We are little fishes in an ocean full of sharks… an analogy, which was once lectured to me by an elder sibling. Till date I bear this in mind and I understand there are people in the world who want to harm you, as well as those who genuinely want the best for you. I am not a fish and I don’t fall for any bait as easily, but that does not mean I am fool proofed and protected. There may be a day when I become a victim, but taking extra precautions may reduce the chances of me, or anyone else for that matter, falling a victim. It could happen in any place, at anytime. It could be here on the net- a place full of sharks and vulnerable fishes. I do apologise for the shark and fish reference; I feel they describe the situation I am about to share with you perfectly. The Internet is the ocean, you are the fish and the sharks are the hackers (criminals), who want to cause you harm. So here goes…
Just the other day, a friend of mine shared some dreadful news with me, her laptop was hijacked, whilst she was surfing the net. Her screen went blank (locked by a scam screen, requesting money to unlock it) and a message popped up- recognise the image below?
Immediately she thought she had breached some form of law, when logic kicked in she realised it was all a scam. Her laptop had been hacked into, her files, her system, everything. Do you want to know the stupid part? She failed to update her malware security, to detect any virus that was manifesting- had she done this, well I would not be here, typing this post.
I advise you to fully protect your computer device. The net is not a safe place, there are people who will find ways to hack into your machine and it may lead to the extent where they will gain access to all of your files and information. It is better to be safe than sorry. For those of you who have not installed a security system (anti-virus software) on your PC or laptop, I could not stress as much for you to urgently get on that.
For those of you who have received this message, please do not give in to this scam and take precautions- if you have fallen a victim, please consult you local police for advice. Shutdown your device as it may enable the hacker to travel to the heart of your machine and cause a malfunction. Instead, seek professional help from a specialist technician. If you are IT/PC savvy, you can download the free ‘Kaspersky rescue disk 10’, this will help scan and remove any worms, trojans or malware. Other than that, stay safe and continue surfing in style.
A. Boston. X
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