Technology has spread its hands everywhere, and no one is left who doesn’t have access to its use and exploration. The use of the Internet and its safety has become a big question mark in the field of technology. People around the globe have access to the Internet and how wisely they are using. It is the most significant cause of concern.
Uses of the Internet:
People from all age groups use the Internet for various purposes like official work, assignments, project making, searching, exploring, updating news, videos and doing online transactions, etc. After the Corona pandemic, there is still a rise in the usage of the Internet by the school, college, and university learners also. These days, online classes are also gaining popularity. Thus there is a sort of virtual confinement seen everywhere. Even the small children are again using the Internet more these days to attend their virtual classes. So the more is the use, the more concern attached to the misusing of the Internet.
Online scams:
Scams refer to online traps where innocent individuals are trapped under various cyber inappropriate activities related to cyberbullying, Sextortion, cybercrime, etc. The age group falling under this is either the senior citizens or teenagers, school, college going children as they have inadequate knowledge sometimes.
So they are easily misguided or mislead by the wrong information. Various scams are as follows:
Cyberbullying:
As per unicef.org, it is the new way of threatening online users in return for money in exchange for their personal information. They use various ways of threatening to extract cash or their details; this is also a sort of harassment and is common, especially among youngsters and school-going children.
Sextortion:
It is the most dangerous form of Online scams, where sexual exploitation of individuals takes place in return for blackmailing them for money. Sexual exploitation is done in exchange for pics and videos; the content shared or exchanged is in the form of personal files or data. The files can be exchanged with the help of emails and various platforms of social media applications. It is also another form of blackmailing Innocent people, in the form of leaking their private content on social media. Again the trappers find easy ways to attack young boys and girls as they are too young and immature to handle their privacy concerns with strangers.
There is always a need to keep an eye on such activities to avoid social exploitation, and these links of chats and sharing files should be kept private always.
Malware:
These are viruses that are related to the corrupt virus and spam; this can also lead to the exploitation of the data or important files. They enter the device due to clicking on wrong links and unsafe web browsing. The harmful cookies enter the device, thus leading to the loss of data and files.
Honey Trapping:
Another form of collecting information from people using a honey trap or sexual advancements. Innocent or unaware people often fall into this and share their data in place of collecting evidence and personal information.
Online Purchases without Proper Research:
Sometimes the purchase of online items can lead to serious issues. Around the corner, there is daily updated news of youngsters purchasing wrong items or purchasing gaming products online; thus, ruining the bank balance of their parents. Many people have lost heavy amounts on their kids who made in-app purchases and thus made unnecessary transactions on gaming or online shopping.
Sharing Personal Information:
Sharing personal information to the wrong hands can lead to serious issues sometimes. This is the new form of cheating people by asking their bank details, passwords, OTPs, etc. Generally, senior citizens are more into the effect of this scam. There are fraud calls online that usually try to extract information from innocent people.
Cyber Scams:
Relatives are usually trapped under this scam asking for money in the form of help donations or need in return for money. They typically hack social media accounts and ask for money in the relation of the person concerned.
Online scamming is not confined to these issues only but sometimes downloading wrong videos and content by the people can also lead to serious problems related to cyber-attacks.
- Clicking on the link is private and has 18 plus content.
- Clicking and sharing inappropriate pics and video chats and files.
- Poor password strength.
- Lack of parental control where the kids have the sole authority to use the device according to their needs and interest.
Digital Citizenship: What Can Be Done To Control The Situation?
The above-mentioned term Digital citizenship signifies how far the individual or citizen portrays wise technological behaviour online, thus keeping it’s positive as well as the negative side into consideration. A digital citizen always abides by the laws and rules of online safety and makes all possible efforts to safeguard the interest of their peers also. One should always understand that everything has become technologically advanced, and this technological advancement has become a revolution in the field of science and technology. Thus following proper protocols, every individual can become a wise and gentle digital user. The foremost thing is to follow the protocols of protection on online platforms. As safety and security work simultaneously, we can do the following to bring the change as every effort counts.
There should be full Parental Control under the working of the children online so that they should not be hampered or exploited online by the strangers since they have a lack of knowledge they are more prone to falling into this exploitation by the cyber attackers there should be E- lock facility where the parents can control the watching of inappropriate data or videos by the children, the data not suitable for their age group.
Good And Unique Password strength:
The passwords used anywhere online should be good and strong so that nobody can cheat or copy them easily. There should be unique codes or characters used in keeping the password strong.
Antivirus or Trojan wares:
There should be the proper use of antivirus or trojan to protect device privacy and avoid harmful cookies attack. To avoid loss of data and files, the antivirus should be updated every year.
Safe Browsing:
There should be safe browsing every time one enters the online platform. Safe browsing includes content that should be appropriately viewed and explored.
Game or Online Purchase:
There should be a thorough check on what all purchases one makes. The purchase should be made on an authentic basis, the websites, in-app purchases should be properly monitored. Any hook can lead to loss of money as well as resources.
Where to complaint against Cyber Crime?
The government has provided facilities to its citizens who want to report against cyber-attacks or crimes. The national cyber Crime reporting portal is the initiative by the Indian government to lodge and file complaints against the Cyber attackers. Mostly children and women are taken into consideration as they are more prone to these attacks. They can easily lodge their complaints, and if they want their identity would not be revealed to avoid social pressures. Various other details are easily available on their websites. What is required is the alertness by the individuals.
Conclusion:
Let’s make the difference by understanding the wide concepts of Web surfing and Internet browsing. Exchange what is relevant and what is authentic.
To conclude, one can say “The Internet the network of networks is growing at an exponential pace it’s growing so fast nobody knows how many people use the Internet.” — Mitch Kapor
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