How to avoid COVID-19 scams
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, most people are staying at home. While staying at home, most people are communicating via various apps and tools to work, study or learn something new. Even though the world of the internet is helpful during a situation like this, some hackers and scammers are making people scared of using this amazing tool.
According to a recent report by Google, there have been over 18 million daily malware and phishing attempts related to COVID-19. In addition to that, users around the globe are receiving more than 240 million COVID-related spam messages.
Google has been implementing its efforts by adding security layers that can automatically identify and stop threats before they ever reach the users. The company’s own e-mail client, Gmail, has managed to already detect and block more than 99.9 percent of spam, phishing and malware.
How to spot COVID-19 spams?
As regular internet consumers are getting smarter day by day, hackers and spammers are finding new ways to make a fool out of them. In order to avoid such attacks, the users should go through the email first before clicking on any given links. Also, avoid giving away personal information such as your home address or bank details.
In case you are working from home, prefer to use your company’s enterprise email account for anything work-related. Using personal email accounts and personal devices can put your company at risk too. People working from home should ensure that their work and personal email are separate. Also, enterprise accounts offer additional security features that keep the company’s private information private. Additionally, one can also enable extra security features such as two-factor authentication.
Make secure video conferences
Ensure secure video calls with friends and colleagues.
Applications like Zoom have been bashed on the internet lately due to the security flaws found in it. In order to ensure a secure connection between you and your colleagues or team, prefer using a more secure app like Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.
Also, consider adding an extra layer of security by ensuring the user who is connecting to the call needs to go through some sort of a verification process.
Keep your gadgets up-to-date
Google, Apple and Microsoft constantly update their operating systems with fixes to any sort of security bugs. Even OEMs like Samsung, OnePlus and Huawei keep rolling out updates bringing new features as well as closing any open window for hackers. Additionally, keep all your applications like Google Chrome, Microsoft Office 365, WhatsApp updated via the official store available on the operating system.
Secure passwords
Maintain separate passwords for social media and official accounts.
If you have not changed your passwords in the last six months, prefer changing it. Also, make sure the passwords you keep for your social media accounts, personal email and official email, all are set different. While it could be difficult to remember all these passwords, you can rely on password managers like Google Password Manager, LastPass and more.
Also, it is suggested you enable two-factor authentication on your account to ensure no one can log in to your account with your permission.
Monitor kids
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, kids are also using the internet in order to stay connected to their schools. While it is always suggested to keep parental controls enabled on the kid’s laptop or smartphone, it is also recommended to keep a check on them every now and then.
