"Refuse to be the low-hanging fruit."
A social media application purports to be able to show what one would look like as a member of the opposite sex, or as an older person. The resulting images are entertaining; they make for a good distraction at a time when the things we see on social media only cause anxiety and frustration.
Unfortunately, using the application is reported to have serious security implications. As early as last year, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said the face-editing software, developed in Russia, posed a potential counterintelligence threat. Data from users can supposedly be used for targeted ads and campaigns, even as these users gave no explicit permission that such personal information can be used.
These days as most people remain ensconced in their homes in fear of the still-raging virus, they use means to continue transacting and interacting with the outside world using personal devices. Online bank transfers have become more common; online meetings have taken the place of face-to-face ones. Deliveries of food and other items have taken the place of shopping and dining out.
Socialization has also moved to a different platform as people spend more time on social media in lieu of the time they actually spend in the physical company of friends.
Enterprising and technically adept individuals have taken advantage of this development to increase their chances of getting their hands on precious personal information they can use for profit. While accusations and denials are traded, people who know only how to use such apps, not necessarily how they work, will not be able to grasp the technical issues that may or may not put them in danger.
Even the introduction of online learning comes with various security issues that may not be imagined yet.
We can share the highlights of our days with our friends online, but in doing so we may also be sharing them with strangers.
We can think that as long as we have passwords for our online banking accounts, our money would always be safe, not realizing that passwords however strong can be hacked or figured out.
We can read our email and follow links or open attachments believing they are from somebody we know or somebody legitimate. But there are ways we can be fooled into clicking items—and allowing other “eyes” into our personal devices.
And we can think we are only having fun downloading various apps and going to different sites, not knowing that these provide a digital footprint of our interests and preferences, which may be used to exploit us for the benefit of others.
It would be absurd to eschew technology altogether. We must, however, recognize that by allowing some convenience into our transactions, we also invite some risk. The key is to know these risks and identify ways we can minimize them, protect ourselves, and refuse to be the low-hanging fruit for such scams.