THE police are urging the public to practise internet safety in order to minimise being a victim of cybercrime.
According to the South African Police Service, cybercrime is a fast-growing area of crime and criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience, and anonymity of the internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities.
In a statement, cops said these crimes were divided into different broad areas.
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“Attacks against computer hardware and software, like botnets, malware and network intrusion. Financial crimes and corruption, such as online fraud, penetration of online financial services and phishing,” the statement read.
The Surfshark’s cybercrime report for 2021 showed that South Africa had 52 cybercrime victims per one million internet users, and the number has been increasing since.
Here are a few prevention tips to help avoid cybercrime:
1. Use strong passwords – Use different user ID/password combinations for different accounts and avoid writing them down.
Make the passwords more complicated by combining letters, numbers, special characters (a minimum of 10 characters) and change them regularly.
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2. Be social media savvy – Make sure your social networking profiles, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MSN, set to private.
3. Check your security settings – Be careful what information you post online. Once it is on the Internet, it is there forever.
4. Secure your mobile devices – Be aware that your mobile device is vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Download applications from trusted sources.
5. Install the latest operating system updates – Keep your applications and operating system, for example Windows, Mac, and Linux, up to date with the latest system updates. Turn on automatic updates to prevent potential attacks on older software.
