It has become common lately to see different promotional links forwarded in WhatsApp groups.
Off the top of my head is a WhatsApp message shared in one of the groups purportedly authored by MTN.
It read: “Wow I just got 122GB from this offer. Free 122GB lockdown free data to sustain during this lockdown?? MTN has started giving out free 122GB to sustain and support citizens during the lockdown period. I just claimed mine now and you too can claim yours. Note: You are only eligible to claim it once. Click below to claim yours instantly. https://bit.ly/MTNfree122GB. It is available for just few people so claim yours now!” the message shared in April read.
Those that gave it a try said it did not work.
Days later, another one claimed KFC was giving out meal vouchers in celebration of its existence.
The message was embedded with a link to a website that asked for some personal details of the site visitors. It had no attachment to KFC but a scheme purposed at either harvesting personal data or stealing from unsuspecting users.
Free things are always appealing and that is why it is the quickest bait used to drive you into a direction that you might curse forever.
Therefore, it is high time you stopped clicking on random links because you expose yourself to unmeasurable security risks.
“The security threat starts with you opening an attachment or a link. It could be what we refer to as a weaponised attachment. If I send you a link and I have attached a trojan or ransom ware, it will automatically download to your machine,” Emmanuel Chagara, the Milima Security chief executive officer, says.
“Once you click, that is all. A well designed attack will not need any further action from you. Clicking on it is enough to cause extreme havoc,” he notes.
Depending on what the attacker intends to achieve, you, as the user might not realise you are under attack.
“There is a wide spectrum of malicious software. You could click on a link and see no problem. However, there is a form of attack where I send you a link, the moment you touch it, I take full access of your phone or computer. While I have full access of your phone, you are not aware. You carry on with your daily activities but I also have a copy of everything that is happening on your phone,” Chagara explains.
How to know if you are safe
It is much harder to know if you have been attacked via phone.
There have been claims of USSD codes that reveal whether a phone is being tapped when dialed.
However, various phone-makers render them false saying they are only shortcuts to the call forwarding menu of the phone.
Even then, it is important to have an antivirus installed on your phone. Yes, anti-viruses are not only for computers. You can have it installed on your phone too.
“The third one that I have seen a lot on techno phones is that you have applications on phone that you do not know about. Always delete what you do not know. You rather crush your phone and start it afresh than having a pool of software that you do not know [even when] they are pre-installed,” Chagara says and stresses the need for antiviruses because an attack on a device cannot be seen with plain eyes.
“You cannot just see and know unless that particular malware is very destructive. For example, if it’s a ransomware, virus or worm you will know. If it’s a worm you will know because your hard disk will keep getting full even when you are not adding anything on it,” he says.
However, he notes, if it’s a Trojan, you might not know because the attacker is not deleting anything, but merely observing what is happening on your device.
Mobile phone attacks
Hidden apps are gold mines for developers.
According to Mcafee 2020 Mobile Threat report, there is a tendency for apps to hide and steal data from users without their knowledge and selling the information.
“It is a growing threat with almost half of all malware on mobile platforms consisting of hidden apps,” the report reads in part.
TIPS
Mcafee advises regular software updates to ensure the phone has the latest fixes and security protection features.
Ensure to only download applications from App Store and play store for android.
While iPhones which use iOS are said to be more secure than android phones, it is worth noting that they are not fully protected from cyber-attacks.
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