TrendLabs
Everyone’s online, but not everyone’s secure. It’s up to you to make sure that your family is.
We live out our digital lives on the Internet. There,
communication is quicker and easier, and our daily tasks are done with a single click of a button. This level of
accessibility also allows cybercriminals to take advantage of our digital lives. They can make profit from stealing our information. They do this by creating online threats.
This guide will help you learn all about these threats, know what they look like, and find out what they do so you’ll be able to protect yourself and your family.
Enjoy your digital life safely. Prioritize your online security.
It’s easier to spot threats if you know what to look for.
There are visual cues you can check to differentiate threats from legitimate online content.
Figure 1: Mobile Phishing Website
Phishing
The website’s URL is different. The HTTPS:// protocol or padlock icon may also be missing. The page may also contain different graphical elements compared to the original.
Spam
They can arrive as unsolicited emails from unfamiliar recipients, and may ask you to open or click a suspicious attachment or link.
Scams
They often appear at the top of search engine query results, and use hot topics, like celebrity deaths and product launches, as bait.
Malicious files
(viruses and malware)
The file is often smaller in size than it should be and uses multiple file
What do you frequently do online? Taking note of your online habits can help you know what threats you need to be cautious of. Cybercriminals often tailor threats to target your online activities. These threats include, but are not limited to: phishing, spam, scams, and malware.
An example of an activity is online banking. Several
threats have been designed to give cybercriminals access to your online banking account without your knowledge.
Some other popular online activities and the threats that target them are listed below:
Activity Threats
Online shopping phishing, scams Online gaming phishing, scams Downloading from file-sharing
and peer-to-peer websites
phishing, malware
Checking email phishing, spam, scams
Web browsing phishing, spam, scams, malware Social Networking phishing, spam, scams, malware
Cybercriminals target your online activities because of the amount of information they can steal through them. This is why you need to be aware of how much information you give out online.
In today’s connected world, it’s easy enough to fall into the temptation of oversharing, whether it’s on your social networking account, your blog posts, or even your photo uploads. Anything posted online can be gathered to gain more details about you and your family.
Here is some of the information you can be exposing through certain online activities:
Activity Information stolen
Online shopping financial information, hobbies, interests Online gaming passwords, personal details, interests
Blogging/
Social networking
passwords, personal details, identities of contacts, hobbies, interests, location
Checking email passwords, answers to secret questions on accounts
Using search engines interests, hobbies
Catalog every device your family owns so you can expect what kind of threats you might encounter for each device.
Laptops and desktops are default target of online threats.
But with the current popularity of mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones, cybercriminals are now seeing them as another source of income. It’s then important for you and your family to be more careful while using your mobile devices.
Since they’re relatively small and easy to lose track of, there’s also a good chance that lost or stolen mobile devices, and the sensitive information stored in them, could put you at risk.
Device type Threats
Desktops malware, malicious websites, phishing, spam Laptops malware, malicious websites, phishing, spam, and
actual device theft Tablets/
Smartphones
malicious apps (mobile malware), mobile phishing, SMS spam, and actual device theft
The type of network you use to connect online matters when it comes to protecting you and your family’s personal information.
Some Wi-Fi networks, especially those offered in public places, like malls, coffee shops, and libraries, may not be secure. Cybercriminals are known to hijack those
networks to steal data from connected users.
If your own network is running on default settings, chances are, it’s also prone to cybercriminals and their schemes. They can take advantage of it to spy on you using the devices connected to your network.
Always make sure to check the level of security a network offers you before connecting to it.
Network Security level
School moderate to low security, depending on the school Work moderate to high security; usually locked behind
employee-only passwords, and browsing is restricted to work-related sites
Public low security; can easily be connected to without a
Having ample knowledge on online threats puts you in a great position to protect you and your family against them.
Here are steps you can take to do so:
Educate. Teach your family what you’ve learned from this e-guide, and help them develop habits that will make them more secure online.
Read up on our threat-specific e-guides. We’ve created a comprehensive library of easy-to-digest e-guides that tackle all the threats we’ve discussed here and more.
Keep up with our Security Intelligence blog. Stay up to date with the latest threats and cybercrime trends through our blog.
Install a security solution for all your devices.
It’s the surest way to protect your family against cybercriminal schemes.
How to Keep Your Family Safe Using Parental Controls
Maximize the full potential of your security software’s parental controls to protect your family against online threats and inappropriate content.
Keeping Things Private Online
Teach yourself and your family how to keep private things private online.
How to Manage Your Online Passwords on Multiple Devices
Learn proper password management no matter what device you have or how many you use.
Protecting Yourself Against Mobile Phishing
Don’t become a victim of phishing online whether you’re on your mobile device or your desktop.
Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in security software and solutions, strives to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.
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