Do you have a Digital Ghost? Kaspersky exposes its potential harms

11/09/2021 05:35:41 PM

If you have been using the Internet to do any transaction of sorts, chances are you are considered to be an active digital ghost. How is that possible?

Whenever you use the internet to socialize, shop, sell, send or receive payments, you leave behind a trail of relatively permanent information known as your digital footprint that serves as your profile and will stay active long, even after you stopped using an app or a website or a social media channel.

What makes it more spooky is that if your private information—such as your name and addres filled your hospital records, tax return details or banking information—falls into the wrong hands, it can become scary in real life as cybercriminals may steal them and sell in black market, which on hindsight, could make you become a victim of identity theft.

What could be more alarming is the Kaspersky's recent findings that more than half (54%) of people they surveyed said they don’t know how to check if their passwords have been leaked. Always considered a pilot path to data theft, a data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. What's more alarming is that these are viewed or shared without permission, and anyone can be at risk — from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments.

The past five years saw the Philippines experiencing data breach incidents within government agencies and big companies.

“With 4.66 billion Internet users as of early 2021, more than half of the world’s population are now connected. Our reliance on technology keeps on growing even while we’re functioning in the middle of a global pandemic. This shows us the need to protect the privacy of our personal data and online interactions all the more today if we want to ensure that technology will continue to play a positive and essential role in our lives,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky. 

Kaspersky suggests to review this list of examples of online activities:

• Online shopping:
• Buying online from e-commerce websites
• Signing up for coupons or creating an account
• Downloading and using shopping apps
• Registering for brand newsletters

• Online banking:
• Using a mobile banking app
• Buying or selling stocks
• Subscribing to financial publications or blogs
• Opening a credit card account

• Social media:
• Using social media on any of your devices
• Logging into other websites using your social media credentials
• Connecting with friends and family
• Sharing information, data, and photos with your connections
• Joining a dating site or app

• Reading the news:
• Subscribing to an online news source
• Accessing articles on a news app
• Signing up for a publication’s newsletter
• Reposting articles and information you read

• Health and fitness:
• Using fitness trackers
• Using apps to receive healthcare
• Registering your email address with a gym
• Subscribing to health and fitness blogs

How to protect your digital privacy? Here are some recommendations from Kaspersky:

1. Use search engines to check. Enter your name into search engines, both first and last names. If any of the results show you in a negative light, contact the site administrator to see if they can remove it. You can also set up Google Alerts to keep an eye on your name. 

2. Reduce the number of information sources that mention you. If you are not comfortable with websites that share your information such as real estate sites and online white pages, contact the websites and request to remove your information. 

3. Limit the amount of data you share. Before submitting a form with your personal data to an organization, consider if it’s worth it. Or ask if there are other ways for you to get information or service from them without sharing your data. 

4. Double check your privacy settings on social media. Review these settings and ensure they are set to a level you are comfortable with. 

5. Avoid oversharing on social media. Avoid disclosing your phone number or email address in your social media bio. It’s also a good idea to avoid ‘liking” your own bank, healthcare provider, pharmacy, etc. as this can lead cybercriminals to your critical accounts. 

6. Avoid unsafe websites. Transact with a secure website --- one that has a security certificate (a clue is when a URL begins with https:// rather than http://) and has a padlock icon to the left of the address bar. Never share any confidential information on unsecured sites, especially payment details. 

7. Be wary about using public wifi. Only send personal information when you’re using a secure, private connection because you don’t know who set up the public wifi network or who else might be watching. 

8. Delete old accounts. Get rid of dormant accounts to minimize your exposure to potential data breaches. 

9. Create strong passwords and use a password manager. The more complex your password is, the harder it is to crack. Use long passwords with at least 12 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters plus symbols and numbers. Try to avoid using the same password for all your accounts and change them regularly. 

10. Keep an eye on your medical records. Practice good hygiene by reviewing your medical records periodically. Identity thieves target medical and health information not just financial data. Criminals may use your personal information to obtain medical treatment in your name. Or in the current scenario, use your COVID vaccine records to their advantage. 

11. Update your software. Cybercriminals can easily access a victim’s device and data by exploiting vulnerabilities in an outdated software. 

12. Make use of software with a strong privacy protection feature. Kaspersky Total Security has Private Browsing that stops a website from tracking your activities and collecting your data. It also has Anti-Phishing to protect you from fake websites that can try to steal your identity. The latest version of Kaspersky Total Security (KTS) has also been enhanced to detect the latest and most sophisticated phishing scams.

For the whole month of November, Filipino customers can enjoy up to 50% discount on Kaspersky solutions available here.

Author: slickmaster | © 2021 The SlickMaster's Files