In April’s Be Cyber Aware at Sea monthly issue, Phish and Ships focuses on seafarers’ ways of communicating with family and friends during the COVID-19 crisis, highlighting the importance of keeping social media accounts safe and protected from cyber criminals.
It is noted that seafarers’ repatriation and difficulties arising increase the use of social media or emails, as they want to keep in touch with family. Yet, it has already been stated that scammers are on the rise, taking advantage of people’s fear and feeling of doubt arising from the pandemic.
According to the New York Times, an estimated 150,000 crew members with expired work contracts are still at sea working aboard commercial vessels. Consequently, where possible seafarers will try their best to stay in touch via social media and email; yet, cyber criminals are taking advantage of the current situation.
Phish and Ships provides three tips for anyone wishing to keep their online health in good order when interacting with social media in what is unsettling times for all.
Firstly, acceptance is key. We all need to accept that this is the new normal for the foreseeable future – and that could very well mean months
In the physical world, we have become used – almost addicted – to washing our hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Thus, it is commented that “This good practice has been adopted globally, so now it’s time to ensure we become and remain digitally hygienic, especially when engaging with social media.”
Here are three simple tips to follow across all social media platforms:
- Lock down social media profiles by restricting who can see your friends and followers’ lists. This mitigates against criminals gathering more information about you, which they then use maliciously against you, for example in spear phishing attacks.
- Set up two-factor authentication on all accounts. It’s easy to set up and adds a layer of protection against hackers who manage to obtain your passwords. It works after you sign in with your password. The site will then ask you to input a verification code which has either been sent to your phone or, by using an authenticator app which will provide you with a random code. It’s very easy to set up.
- Ignore and delete messages claiming to contain important information about the pandemic, even from acquaintances and family. Do not click on links! If it looks important, validate through another form of communication, such as calling your friend or family member. There will be millions of phishing emails, WhatsApp messages and Facebook images related to coronavirus. All of them are designed to trick you into clicking by playing on your emotions. Be careful to use official sources for coronavirus related advice and bulletins.
