BY: KALD I Voltaonlinegh.com |
A cybersecurity expert, Mr. Carl Amanor Sackey has advised Ghanaians against the use of public internet Wi-Fi, in order to safeguard their information online.
He said using such free Internet connections without due diligence, would expose users to cyber threats, such as hacking from internet fraudsters.
Speaking at a Bright Media Series, a virtual forum organized by telecom giant, MTN on Cybersecurity, Mr. Sackey advised the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) to secure one’s information when accessing Internet connectivity through public WiFi.
He noted that, fraudsters were now using various approaches, including phishing and spear-phishing to access people’s confidential information online, and as such, caution the public against publishing of their personal details on online.
According to him, such publications on social media, become information sources for fraudsters to profile the unsuspecting user for their fraudulent activities.
‘You need to be alert always. Know what to share online and what not to. Also don’t be quick to click on every link that you see online, because some of them contain malwares that will harvest data from your devices and expose you to hackers,’ the I.T expert added.
Mr. Sackey, who is also Deputy General Manager at Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), further advised the public to safeguard their information online, by installing anti-virus to block malicious softwares on their devices.
He also cautioned against the use of single password accross multiple accounts, and suggest the use complex passwords, which cannot be easily predicted.
‘Don’t use familiar things around you as passwords. Names, dates of birthday, should not be used. They could easily be predicted,’ he emphasized and also advised against saving of passwords in browsers, as they could be easy to access.
Mr. Sackey also entreated corporate organization to invest in cybersecurity infrastructure and training for their staff, in order to protect their systems from being compromised.
Enterprise Security Specialist at MTN Ghana, Mrs Jacqueline Hanson Kotei, urged consumers to conscious of their safety and not to fall prey to the many ‘socially engineered’ scams within the digital space.
The MTN Bright Media Series is an initiative of the telecom leader as part of its 25th anniversary celebration for media practitioners to engage experts on topical issues.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com
