Tips to students on how to safeguard against cyber criminals

There has been a slight spike in Covid-19 cases in major cities across India. So, schools and colleges are scheduling hybrid flexible teaching through a mix of online and physical classes.

Though parents have been told to be vigilant when children use smartphones, tablets, and laptop PCs for e-classes, the former most often than not, get engrossed in their work.
Even students are mandated to use only school-authorized apps, sometimes, out of curiosity, kids venture into dark places on the Internet or come under the radar of predators. Also, apps are not fool-proof for bad actors to sneak in and corrupt the school network.

As per the latest Check Point Research report, the education sector has witnessed the highest monthly attack volumes in both 2022 and 2021 globally. In July this year, it suffered almost 2,000 attacks per organization each week - more than twice as many weekly cyberattacks compared to the average of other sectors, and up 6 per cent compared to July 2021 and 114 per cent compared to the same period two years ago.

“Unfortunately, many students in India are not aware that they could be targeted by cybercriminals, let alone how to protect themselves. As is the case with the majority of cyberattacks, human error plays a significant role and students need to be on the lookout for emails and websites that appear strange. It’s also important to make sure that wherever you are studying, you have a secure connection and appropriate security software not just on your laptop but your phone and tablet too, and never ignore software updates,” said Sundar Balasubramanian, Managing Director, Check Point India & SAARC.

Check Point Research has shared some tips for students on how to safeguard against cyber threats:
1) Be careful of what you received on email or SMS/WhatsApp/Telegram inbox: Never click any URL in a message sent from an unknown person. Or, if you receive a message with the logo of the education institution, be careful to read the message. If there is any glaring spelling mistake, ignore it. And, make calls to your school teacher or admin and ensure each character of the email ID, you received the message, in the inbox is correct and only then go ahead.

2) Have a different password for each account: This is a classic example of not keeping all the eggs in the same basket; spread it out to ensure, there is less chance of all eggs getting ruined at one time.

Having a different password is standard privacy practice, as this will ensure all the online accounts don't get hacked in one strike. For instance, do not have the same password or user ID for bank accounts (jointly held with parents), Gmail and Facebook or Instagram. If UserID and password get compromised, you will lose control over all the online accounts.

3) Never download images, videos, or any kind of attachments from email or SMS sent from strangers. Also, if the person is known, do not share personally sensitive images

4) Avoid connecting your phone with public Wi-Fi routers: The safety records of the public internet service are bad and most often than not, lack proper privacy settings

5) Always download apps from Google Play Store or Apple App Store: Yes, some apps with adware enter Play Store, but sooner or later, they get booted out. But, users have be more cautious when installing apps from third-party stores online. Most cases of malware entering the phone happens when a user modifies the phone to install apps not found on Google, Apple, and Microsoft Windows platforms. My suggestion to students is- Curb your curiosity in this aspect for your own safety.

6) Be wary when browsing the internet: Ensure the website you go to has 'https://'. The latter will have SSL certificate. "This ensures internet connection is encrypted and protects any sensitive information sent between two systems by preventing cyber criminals from viewing and modifying any data being transferred, including data that could be considered personal," says Check Point.

And, if the URL has 'http://' with 's' missing. Come out of it, immediately. It's not safe. Period.

7) Never entertain or interact with a stranger on Facebook or Instagram or WhatsApp or any social media platforms. It will always end up badly for you. And, if they persistently try to contact you, ensure you report to the respective platform and block them permanently.

8) Always keep the phones/tablets and computers updated with the latest software and security patches for protection against new malware, virus and ever-growing cyber threats

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