Battle in the Cyber Space

January 09, 2017

by Aditi Bhave, KOSBE Administrative and Project Coordinator

Protect Yourself Against Online Fraud

Is my house safe ? Is my car safe? Do I have the best security measures in place to protect my family and loved ones ? Security and safety of ourselves, and loved ones is a top priority in all of our lives, most of us go to extremes to have the best safety systems in place.

A good nights sleep is possible only if we know that we are safe in our house, that we won’t have a burglar giving us a surprise visit in the middle of the night. In our mind, as we sleep, our fancy security systems and alarms are out there battling the enemies ...

Now picture this ...

How many of us feel tempted to click on the link and give it a try? What is it like, to know in our heart that this really cannot be true, and yet allowing curiosity to get the better of us; or what if this is really true, and we miss a once in a lifetime opportunity? Yes, these are the battles we have with our emotions day in and day out. And the best of us may fall for the temptation. So, is the battle just restricted to fighting our temptations, or does it have more serious implications?

Welcome friends to Ransomware : here you get to meet internet frauds and scams, phishing and cyber security threats. Modern age battles are not just fought on the ground, they are fought in the cyber space.

It is when your passwords are hacked, when your bank details are out there for everyone to see, when you lose access to your personal data, you realize that you would do anything to remedy the situation. And that is when you have to pay a price, a hefty price, for clicking on enticing invitations such as CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE.

This month, together with Saratoga Technologies, Inc.and Watchguard, we hosted the event Ransomware: How to Battle the Most Evolved. David Vance, Watchguard, did a fabulous job and gave everyone a dose of reality. We spoke about what Ransomware is, how easy it is to start internet scams, how legit these scams appear, and how easy it is to scam just about anyone, even the most savvy users amongst us.

Over the years, internet scams and frauds have evolved, to look like what we would usually see on our computer screen, making them very hard to find. During the presentation we learned, about Cyber Kill Chain 3.0 developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which helps us better understand the cyber scam life cycle. (Refer to the picture above for the PWC Cyber Kill Chain 3.0.)

For me,the most hard hitting fact was what Ransomware could do to a small business or an individual! The revelations were scary, and it reinforced my need and desire to educate people and make them aware of this silent battle lurking somewhere on their computer screen, which is why I am writing this blog.

It was the group’s consensus that we need to be better educated about internet scams and frauds, and how to spot them and stay away from them. We need to make people around us aware of the implications of internet fraud, and all of us should trust our gut and use common sense to avoid being the next TARGET.

So, next time you find yourself dying to WIN that free iPhone 7, or Make Millions Staying at Home, be sure that on the opposite end there is not a hacker laughing uncontrollably at your desperation and gullibility!