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COVID-19: Working from home? Here is how to protect yourself from cyber attacks

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As more than 3 billion people are in a state of lockdown amid the Coronavirus pandemic, more than half the workforce in the services sector and the Gig economy are working from home to stay safe from the outbreak.

While working from home may protect people from the Coronavirus, a different virus may attack them and also cause damage to their privacy and financial security.

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The work from home setup has enabled cybercriminals to mint money as individuals become callous with their cybersecurity at home.

As data becomes the new gold, all measures should be taken by the government and the public to ensure that there is no breach of data.

Here is how cybercriminals can invade your privacy and steal data.

1. A common method used to destroy the IT system is to install a Trojan horse which is a mail containing a virus that can not only destroy your computer system but also wipe out the data.

2. Another common method to steal the data including your private photos, card details etc is through phishing. In this method when a mail is delivered to your inbox which is often from reputed agencies like WHO, UN, ICMR and once you open the link, your system is taken over and the sender of the mail has complete access to your system data.

The mail could also ask you to forward the same to your WhatsApp contacts and offer you incentives for doing so while more data gets vanished.

Once the malware gets into the system, it can access your mail, bank details, passwords, credit card information and important data which can be manipulated.

This method is also prevalent in cyberbullying.

3. The creation of over 100,000 COVID-19 web domains has led to speculations as some domains can be fake and could contain a virus.

4. Another way by which these cybercriminals are blinding people is by using social media to attract users to contribute money for COVID-19 victims or are inviting corporates to invest.

An analysis reveals that as more and more workers work from home, they don’t have control over their own devices, as in their offices which has security protections. Cybercriminals find it easy to enter and exit such systems and hack into the device.

X CIIX India Habitat CentreX New Delhi.X Armed ForcesX Indian IndustryX Academia and R&D organisationsX Ashish Ranjan PrasadX VSMX ADCX Signal Officer-in-Chief and Senior Colonel CommandantX Corps of Signals.

How to protect yourself from these attacks: 

  1. Update your system’s software with the latest anti-virus technology
  2. Do not accept mails from any strangers
  3. Use the Cyber Dost portal launched by the government to lodge complaints of cybercrimes.
  4. Have a secure and safe Wifi connection at home by contacting your network provider.
  5. Maintain strong passwords
  6. It is safe to use a virtual private network (VPN) as it creates a trusted connection.
  7. Ensure encryption on all devices and VPN tools.

It is imperative to be safe online as cyber crimes are on the rise and cybercriminals are becoming smart. However, these attacks can be prevented with the above measures.

Also, organisations should be at the forefront to ensure that data of all employees is protected, office devices are monitored and there are regular audits.

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