Thanks to growing adoption of social media, South Africans of all ages are using these platforms to stay in contact with one another. But this has also given rise to the scourge of digital stalkers, cyberbullies, and identity fraud.
By now, we all know that data is the currency driving the digital age. From our browsing habits and search history to our online purchases and social media interactions, advertisers and other businesses can use this data to create wonderfully personalised experiences. However, threat actors can also exploit this data to target individuals in phishing scams and steal their identity.
In fact, recent Kaspersky research shows that in South Africa, almost 10% of Internet users (individuals and corporate users) were affected by phishing attacks in 2022. More than 15% of the phishing attempts in the country originated through fake payment systems, 68.4% through fake online stores, and 16.2% through fake online bank portals. Of course, even organisations are impacted by the issue of phishing. Just last year, consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion experienced a data breach where a criminal third-party obtained access to the data of more than 10 million South African consumers.
In today’s digital world, our online privacy is under constant threat.
“Any information you put on the Internet could be used for malicious intent. There is an old saying that the Internet never forgets. We must therefore all be careful on what we publish on our social media profiles or in the comments sections of websites. Privacy breaches are a significant cause for concern whether you are the CEO of a large organisation or an entrepreneur, a student at school or a work from home parent,” says Brandon Muller, technology expert and consultant for the MEA region at Kaspersky.
Just imagine your medical conditions being shared without your consent, or your banking data being made available to third-parties. You might have your emails hacked or your online dating profile compromised. The risks are more far-reaching than most people realise.
“The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) along with the Cybercrimes Act in South Africa have been put in place to provide a legal framework around how companies should store and use our personal information, while aimed at reducing and preventing infringements on privacy and other potential cybercrimes. Whilst still relatively new as these laws have been partially enacted in the last couple years, these laws are designed to keep people safe.
“Of course, this is not a perfect world and malicious users will always look for ways to exploit individual users as well as company databases and systems to access private data. For instance, phishing and ransomware attacks are happening more frequently while social engineering tricks are becoming more sophisticated to fool us into giving away sensitive personal information,” adds Muller.
With this in mind, Muller outlines a few practical tips from Kaspersky experts to help all users to improve their online privacy.
Think before sharing
Cybercriminals do not have to hack into systems to find out more about you. They can simply follow your social media profiles.
Therefore, always avoid posting personal information such as your address, phone number, and the names of the schools your children attend. It comes down to avoiding oversharing as all this information can be used to build a profile of you.
Something as harmless as posting that you are looking forward to taking a short break during a long weekend can alert criminals that nobody will be at home.
Browse the Web privately
Even though browser cookies are being phased out, many websites still rely on them and other analytical tools to track your browsing behaviour.
You should consider using the incognito or private browsing mode of your Internet browser to avoid giving analytical data to these sites.
If the systems of these companies are breached, then hackers will have access to a lot of behavioural data which they can exploit.
Make your social networks more private
Social networks have a variety of settings that can determine what information is available to different kinds of users, for example friends, friends of friends, and the like. You can also hide your profile from being searchable on a standard search engine or whether other people can tag you or your loved ones in photos and posts.
There are many privacy checker solutions available that show you how you can optimise your profile across social networks to be more private and secure.