Online Hacking
Despite online technology being a part of daily life, it is in everyone’s interest to not underestimate the real dangers linked to posting sensitive and important information online, either in emails, social networks or under the umbrella of big business.
Online hacking can take on many forms, but most commonly people think of a wall of monitors, endless code running across screens, with a pale, socially inept operator, slumped in front of a kebab stained keyboard, trying to get into the Pentagon’s mainframe.
207% increase in account takeover fraud
The UK 2009 cybercrime report by Garlik, a technology and identity expert company, states that one of the most significant changes in hacking has been the 207 per cent increase in account takeover fraud, indicating that criminals have shifted their efforts from opening new accounts with stolen identities to accessing existing accounts.
The report also highlights that online banking fraud has increased by 132 per cent, with losses totalling £52.5 million compared to £22.6 million in the previous year.
Only 15% think it is own responsibility to protect themselves
The report moreover found that 15 per cent of people think that it is their own responsibility to protect themselves, 49 per cent think it should be the responsibility of “big business” and 11 per cent think that it should be a government responsibility.
18% still not checking security settings
A recent survey commissioned by Internet infrastructure services provider VeriSign shows that, despite the fact many consumers claim to be security conscious and are cautious when buying goods online, there are still 18 per cent of Londoners who do not bother to check a website’s security settings before entering into an online transaction.
The Internet is now intuitive to younger generations of people, controlling their entire lives with the power of technology and social networking.
Technology has clear advantages, but with more of daily lifeProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 oxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 ontrolled and uploaded online, it leaves greater amounts of information open to attack.
“123456” most common online password
Many Internet users have an identical simple password for everything, from unlocking their laptop, to their online banking. According to a 2010 report by Imperva, a data security firm, the most common password online is “123456”. In our haste to sign-up to what we see as laborious safety measures, employing the same, memorable password proves to be many people’s downfall.
The threat of hacking looks unlikely to ever diminish, but it is in everyone’s interest to ensure that passwords are secure and safe to try and undermine the threat posed by hackers.
Tips to create a secure password:
- Don’t use the same password for everything
- Don’t use dictionary words
- Don’t use words derived your everyday life
- Don’t write things down
Tips from Andy Holyer, UAL web technical administrator
Listen to UAL web technical administrator talk about password security
Read More
UAL student's personal account as a victim of online hacking [link to page 2]
Cyberstalking [link to page 3]
Related Links
Garlik UK 2009 Cybercrime Report
Times Online report: global cyber attacks on the rise
How to protect yourself from identity theft