The Internet age has ‘been upon us’ for quite a number of years already – it’s a mainstream part of everyday life. The amount of people joining the web-age is increasing by 10’s of thousands of people everyday – there were 1.7 billion internet users as of the end of 2009 and my article ‘The Internet is a BIIIG place’ has some other fascinating statistics about Internet usage.
However. Just because there are so many users of the Internet, does not mean that most users make efficient, proper use of that Internet. The fact of the matter is that most Internet users see it as a big playground for social networking, games and the odd bit of information research. Tickets for Friday night’s movie, a DVD purchase or some on-line banking.
There’s a more serious part to the Internet though and that is the matter of business transactions via email, B2B or other methods. Companies and individuals depend on the Internet for their living and well-being, to run business applications and to transact, to transfer data between their branches and correspond with clients. And as such, the security of their on-line information is a critical component of being able to continue to transact.
Everyday we are being bombarded with spam, viruses, phishing attacks, pharming and so on. The Internet is a free-for-all, a modern-day Wild West. And the actions of many uninformed ( and often ignorant ) users facilitate the ability of hackers and spammers to continue doing what they do so well. Internet users are putting themselves and others at risk, and propagating the very attacks they would prefer not to be the object of, were they better informed.
A recent study in the USA indicated that 54% of users, knowing full well what a phishing attack was, would still click on a link in a spam email. And before you knock the Americans, the statistics in other countries don’t paint a better picture.
As Internet users, we should in fact be keeping as low a profile as possible, revealing little to no information about ourselves, and keeping our attack surface low. Every piece of information you put out there compromises your on-line ( and personal and financial ) safety a little more.
But knowing the dangers, many of us continue to bare all on IM channels, social networking sites and blogs. We have pictures of ourselves, family and friends, address and contact information, and personal stats with on-line dating websites. We don’t think twice when clicking that link in an email or web-site.
The results are often catastrophic. Virus infected PC’s, data loss, identity theft, on-line banking fraud. The list goes on … And if you think we’re sheltered from the baddies here in SA, think again. Internet use in SA has doubled in the last year. On-line security threats have grown by 600% year on year for the last 3 years. We’ve increased our international bandwidth by a factor of 10 in the last 2 years. South Africa is no longer a sleeping entity but a full-fledged member of the international Internet community. As such, it is now subject to the same level of threats as anywhere else.
So what’s this all about you ask? It’s about taking responsibility for your safety on- and off-line, and learning the ins and outs of working efficiently and safely on the Internet. It’s about having respect for your fellow web-surfer. It’s about making sure you don’t contribute to the global fiasco that is spam, malware and viruses.
What can you do?
- if you use Microsoft Windows, make sure you have anti-virus and anti-malware packages, and that they are kept updated; also make sure your OS and application updates are done regularly
- limit the amount of information you give out on web-sites and via blogs, IM, chat rooms, comments and email
- have separate personal and business email addresses
- use a scratch email address to register on web-sites
- use the appropriate etiquette for email and other on-line activities
- don’t provide personal information about someone to others, without their permission
- think before you click
- think before you forward that chain email
- don’t cc recipients in email unless they are specifically related to the purpose of your email
- don’t believe everything you read – quality of sources matter
- use parental control software on PCs accessed by your children
- don’t do on-line banking or any other critical function at Internet cafes or on untrusted computers
Remember that someone’s lack of etiquette and Internet knowledge, effects not just everyone else, but themselves as well. Take the time to explore the Internet landscape properly and to learn the best way of doing things and interacting with others. Learn something new today that makes the Internet a better place to play. And keep safe.
More information available at
