Own IT: Understand your Digital Profile

Week Two of the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Own IT: Understand your Digital Profile. It’s easy to get carried away with social media, and to only think about using it for its intended purpose and nothing else, it’s understandable as that’s why we download these apps in the first place. However, it’s really important to think about the privacy and security aspects of these applications and devices in order to protect yourself and others from harm.

Privacy Settings

When using social media, in fact when using any app, the first thing you should do is read the terms and conditions to check that the makers of the app aren’t getting your permission to do whatever they like with your personal information! Then make sure that all privacy and security features are turned on. It’s also important to consider that if you are using other people’s personal information, that they agree to you using it in this way. Unless you really want the whole world to see your content, make your profile private.

Safe Social Media Posting

Before posting information on social media, stop and think about who the audience is, do you want what you are about to say to be made public to the world? Consider making use of privacy settings. Is there anything in your post that will identify you or other people? You have the right to have yourself identifiable on social media, but if your post identifies other people, you must check that they are happy for you to do so. Whilst you might not mind being identifiable, be mindful of the sorts of information you are putting out there:

• Your date of birth with a picture of your birthday and how old you are
• Making references to where you live, including pictures of your house
• Letting people know you are away from home, they may know where you live and that your house is currently unoccupied

Make sure you use strong passwords, the last thing you need is to have your account taken over by a malicious person who could post malicious things using your name.

Smart Technology

We all love the convenience of smart technology: being able to turn the heating on when away from home, seeing who is at your front door, or asking Alexa any question that’s on your mind (whether she’ll be able to answer it is another matter!). We’ve inadvertently opened ourselves and our homes to all sorts of privacy and security concerns, and it’s only going to increase with smart technology becoming more prevalent. Smart speakers like the Amazon Alexa work by recording what you say, Amazon actually stores these conversation in your Amazon account. You should try and log in and delete these conversations regularly, you should be aware that third parties can listen to what is being said in your household. One way around this is to only switch these devices on when you are actively using them. There have been cases where Alexa recordings have been requested to help solve crimes, such as the following case of a double murder in the US: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/amazon-echo-alexa-evidence-murder-case-a8633551.html

 

In conclusion, carry on enjoying using social media and smart technology just bear in mind the privacy and security concerns surrounding them and turn on privacy and security features wherever you can.

Week Two – Quiz Question

What should you do first after downloading an app?

Please send answers to isg@ucl.ac.uk with the subject line of “NCAM – Week Two“.

The winner for week one will be contacted on Friday.

Don’t forget to check back for next weeks edition – Secure IT: where we’ll be looking at creating strong passwords, multi-factor authentication and protecting against phishing.