Do the cyber crime, pay the cyber time
John Hughes works in the ITS department.
th e entrance to the Information Technology Services and Service Desk office in Barlow 104.
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
Over the la st 50
years, technology
has
m ad e
an
unprecedented jump
forward. Computer
technology alone has
changed society itself,
especially with the advent
of social media. With only a few words,
we now have access to near lim itless
information, and the rate at which new
technology is appearing doesn’t seem
to be slowing. This new technology has
improved our lives in so many ways, but
it hasn’t come without a price.
One of the most prevalent and difficult
things to defend against in today’s world
is cyber-crime. Identity theft is one of the
fastest growing crimes due to how much
easier it is to procure someone’s personal
information in a time when everyone
posts every miniscule part of their lives
on Facebook and Twitter.
An example of a cyber-crime that was
recently widely reported by major news
networks was the WannaCry ransomware
attack. Beginning on Friday, May 12, the
worm began its attack, infecting more
than 300,000 computers in more than
150 countries around the world. Using
an exploit in Windows’ Server Message
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<§ Clackamas Print JUNE 7,2017theclackamasprintcom
Block protocol, which provides shared
access to files, printers, serial ports and
other communications on a network,
the attack effectively locked down a
computer, forcing the user to pay up to
$600 ip bitcoin or permanently lose access
to theirfiles.
These attacks are becoming increasingly
prevalent as people rely more heavily
on technology and they aren’t likely to
stop. How do you protect yourself from
falling victim to one of these attacks?
One o f the m o st
p revalent a n d difficult
things to defen d against
in to d ay’s w orld is
cyber-crim e
Though the complete answer is lengthy
and complicated, there are a few basic
rules you can follow that will prevent
most attacks from succeeding.
Always run u p -to -d a te antivirus
software on your computer. There are
many different options to choose from,
and the best option will vary from person software you run daily.
Always know what you are downloading.
to person. If you are running Windows
8 or i q , Windows Defender is included One of the most common ways that an
with the operating system and is a good everyday person’ s computer becomes
place'to start. For som ething more infected with a virus is from downloading
comprehensive, Avast and AVG are good, a suspicious file. Most modern web
browsers have methods to protect against
free alternatives.
Do not use sim ple, easy to guess the most common malicious files, such as
passwords. This is probably the most Google’s Safe Browsing, but the methods
common reason people fall victim to are not foolproof.
Finally, control the amount of personal
cyber-crimes. “ Password” is not a good
password. When crafting a new password, information that is available online.
try and use a combination of special Social media makes it easy for someone
characters (!@#$, etc.), uppercase letters with criminal intent to track down huge
and numbers. Do not use popular phrases. amounts o f your private information
It’ s also not a good idea to use fam ily if you are not careful. All major social
media sites have methods of limiting what
members’ birthdays or anniversaries.
Keep your com puter and software the average user can see. It’s a fantastic
updated. The WannaCry ransomware idea to take advantage of those features.
attack took advantage of an old Windows Also, avoid posting something on social
exploit that had been patched out months media that could get you in trouble in the
before. It was only successful because future. It has become a common practice
people failed to update to the most recent for companies to look at potential hires’
version of their operating system. Waiting social media accounts after all.
There are other methods, but these
to update makes sense for businesses and
schools as they generally require time to are a good place to start. It’ s also a good
update their networks to be compatible idea to take the time to do some research
with recent updates, but there is n ’t a on your own to figure out where your
real reason for the average consumer to vulnerabilities he. It may not be the most
avoid updating their computer. This goes exciting topic, but its importance cannot
for both your operating system and any be understated.