Elvis Online. Newbury

Computer / Internet Security and why I believe the biggest threat is the end user.

According to new findings, KnowBe4, a security awareness training firm, and research firm ITIC, found that 80 percent of companies say that "end user carelessness" is the biggest security threat to their systems and networks.

https://www.knowbe4.com/press/knowbe4-and-itic-latest-survey-indicates-companies-regard-careless-end-users-as-bigger-securit

Yep !!!! I totally agree with that. Why ? Well put simply "The biggest pc security threat is the stupidity of the end user", and Im happy to stand by that comment. Ive learned many things in 42 years plus of using computers, made mistakes, messed up, had to reinstall and had to teach myself the best way to try and stay safe. I've said for years that end user stupidity is a main reason why scammers and threats are there.

Most people will tell you Microsoft is to blame for creating a duff OS. A large portion of these people will be Linux users, of which a nice percentage use it for bragging rights, and to "Cut their noses off to spite their faces". Some even come out with the dumbest comments without engaging brain first. Ive used Linux since 2004 and cant believe even some of the dumb questions / comments even from supposode smart people.

Lets put it this way. You cant drive a car without taking driving lessons and passing a test first. Then you have to take responsibility for a car, maintain it, drive and then let the real learning begin. But youre allowed to take on a PC and the BIG WWW with absolutely no clue whatsoever about whats out there. Youll not go to a bad area at night knowing that there is a big chance you could get robbed or something else, but youll surf the net and open unsolicited emails with no problem.

There have been gullible people who have received an email saying they won some state lottery where they have never even purchased a ticket. And they had to pay up a wad of cash as admin fee to then receive their prize winnings, only to find it was a scam, and then they wonder why it happened.

An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears. A lot of these come from Nigeria and is known as "419 Scams". The number "419" refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud and the charges and penalties for such offenders. The scam has been used with fax and traditional mail and is now prevalent in online communications such as emails. If you would like to read up on a lot of419 scam emails then visit https://www.419eater.com/

Now Ive learnt that I MAY trust you, but Id still delete emails from you if you sent funny memes or links to websites. Why ? Although i May trust you, I dont trust your friends or what their surfing habits are.

I get over 200 emails a day for people trying to sell me stuff, inheritance scams, hackers have hacked my website and stole my database details and I have to pay in Bitcoin to get rid of them.

With inheritance scams the scammer will send the victim a convincing email or letter posing as a law firm, saying that the victim was left as the beneficiary of the estate and that if they want to claim the inheritance, they'll have to pay the law firm an upfront fee to cover the legal fees or taxes.

Another problem is software that you download and install on your computer(s), this is one of Microsofts biggest failings. It popularity and market share means there is a massive amout of malware, and other crap, that you can easily install purely by double clicking an exe file.

Legit software is now getting sneaky in getting you to install extra software from them. Normally you may have a pop up box saying "Would you like to install chrome browser ?" You would think you had to press Yes to install, or No to decline. Well some companies are changing the wording around so that saying "No" to a statement they show actually means you want the software installed. This software could potentially contain malware or spyware.

Firefox kind of gets silly with a section under settings called "Firefox Data Collection and Use". When you install firefox and dont go into settings because you have no clue about whats there, then this data collection bit will have two or three boxes checked. So while you surf your surfing habits are being reported back to firefox, and youre also allowing them to install and run studies. Studies of what ? And if Firefox is so open then why are these boxes pre checked ? And as we know Firefox (and its derivatives like Waterfox) are available for both Windows and Linux. Not really open, honest and up front behaviour.

So heres some tips for you.

Get yourself two gmail accounts. Use one for general sign up up where all the crap goes to. Use the second one for personal use and only give this one to people you trust. State specifically you dont want to receive crap on it or have it handed out.

Get yourself Advanced Systemcare and CCleaner. Pay for licenses, keep them updated and they will go a long way to protect you and keep your system clean.

Web browsers have a bookmarks toolbar for your quick links. USE IT. I bookmark all the sites that I know and trust and visit daily. If I have to search Im carefull about where I go.

Have an online digital bank account. This is handy if you want to do online shopping on sites like Amazon etc. When you are about to pay transfer the amount to your digital account then pay. So if the site is up to no good, you are not going to lose anymore money. Ive purchased from companies in China using this tip.

Remember even the big high street shops can get data breaches.

My emails show a preview. If its from someone I dont know showing part of crap then I delete the email without even opening it.

Dont trust your friends forwarding emails. You dont know from where, or whom, they got the email from, and you dont know the trustworthyness of these unknown people, or whether your friend has vetted the email(s).

Keep important documents on a flash drive / data stick. Only attach the flash drive when you need the document. Once done remove the flash drive.

Screw cloud storage. The UK has data protection laws, but what if your cloud storage comes under another countries laws ? What if the company is based in another country and goes bust ? Is the HDD your data is stored on going to be wiped properly ? Theres software out there that is freely available for data to be recovered from a formatted drive. Trust me, Ive used it. That HDD you sold me, Ill install it as a 2nd HDD and recover all your nice documents and stuff.

To be added to.......... Keep watching.