SO much has been said about hacking and phishing.
We are living in a world that is just a few clicks away from being hacked.
Hence, the need to equip ourselves with knowledge of how hackers operate so that we do not become victims.
I would like to share symptoms of hacking:
YOU are connected to the Internet and browsing a site, when suddenly, your browser opens another website on its own.
Alert: Browser hijackers are malicious software that makes you go to sites that hackers want you to go.
Browser hijacking programmes are found in freely-available software or if you click on malicious advertisements;
YOU receive text alerts on your mobile phone that a transaction has been made from your debit or credit card, even though you haven’t made any.
Alert: This can happen due to your credit or debit card information leaked to hackers.
One way is phishing. Here hackers create a fake, but authentic webpage of a famous company or bank or e-commerce site and you might have used your credit or debit card on this fake site.
Or, your credit or debit
card information has been stolen by a device called a skimmer.
Skimmers are used by malicious people in hotels, fuel stations, shops and just about any place where credit or debit cards are used;
YOU get an email from friends, relatives or boss requesting you to deposit money in an account and, later,
after depositing it, you realise that the email was not by them.
Alert: This is called email spoofing attack.
The attacker used a special software to hide or mask his actual email address.
Millions of people across the world have fallen prey to job offers from reputed companies, which turned out to be fake emails;
YOU are sitting in a cafe or restaurant and you can see a free wifi network signal on your mobile.
You connect to it and the page requests your Gmail, Facebook or user identification for authentication.
You put all these details in and then click “next”, but nothing happens.
Alert: Hackers can create fake wifi hotspots and keep it near public places for people to connect.
The moment you put in your Gmail or any such information, the fake wifi hotspots will send this information to hackers immediately, thus compromising your data;
YOU are online and you find an alert message on your screen that says, “Your computer is infected with viruses, click here to scan and remove them”.
You click on the message and the site asks for your credit card information for payment to clean your computer.
Alert: Fake virus alert message is the most common method employed by malicious websites to trap people and ask for money.
Never click on such advertisements; and,
YOU visit an Internet cafe to check your email. A few days later, you find bizarre emails in your inbox.
Your friends and relatives, too, received emails sent from your email address, but they’re not from you.
Alert: Sometimes, malicious people can install software called key loggers on a computer.
This software reads every single keystroke you type on the computer and stores the same on a text file, which can be read later.
HARISH CHANDAR
Founder and director of Indiatech
Mumbai, India