HOW TO STAY SAFE ONLINE DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

With much of the world on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are relying on our phones, laptops and other devices to stay connected. While cyber-surveillance is a longstanding threat to human rights defenders and others, this new normal means options for using physical security alternatives (like simply communicating sensitive information in person rather than online) are seriously diminished. This raises the human rights stakes. It can mean everyone has more exposure to cyber-attacks and scammers who are seeking to exploit the outbreak. Here are six top tips on how to keep safe online.

 

 

Your devices and any programmes that communicate with the internet should be up to date to reduce the risk of attack. Most browsers update automatically but look at the apps you use to read documents or view photos and videos you have found online.  

 

If you are using old versions of these apps it is more likely there will be bugs that can leave your devices vulnerable.

“If the phishing attacks come from cyber criminals, they are most often seeking to access devices so they can steal financial information. They can also use ransomware to lock down the device and try to extort money to unlock it again,” says Maynier.

Spending more time online can mean exposing more of your personal information. This is a good time to review your privacy settings.  

“You can limit a lot of the data that Google is collecting, such as location information and the history of searches you have done, by disabling that in your Google account,” says Maynier. “You can’t really control what data Facebook is collecting, but you can control what people see,” he adds.

Facebook and Google carry out unparalleled tracking of our lives online, so now could also be time to experiment with services that do not belong to the world’s tech giants. Messaging app Signal is a non-profit alternative to Facebook-owned WhatsApp which not only offers end-to-end encryption but also stores less metadata.

Video conferencing has exploded during the pandemic as colleagues, family and friends turn to apps which allow large-scale group calls. Questions have been raised over how safe they are – Zoom had to retract a claim that it was end-to-end encrypted and Taiwan has now banned government agencies from using it on privacy and security grounds.

It’s worth exploring lesser known alternatives like open source Jitsi Meet, which does not require users to download software or create an account. For chats with a smaller group of people it is safer to use services that have end-to-end encryption like Signal, WhatsApp or Wire.

Getting rid of accounts that you no longer use reduces data exposure. “By deleting them there is less data on you out there and that reduces privacy risks,” Maynier says.