On Saturday 29 March, BAKE held a security awareness session at the Naiolab. THe trainins session was centred on educating bloggers how to maintain safety both online and offline. More emphasis was put on the online issues as more and more people find themselves under threat for what they post.
Here are some highlights of the issues discussed.
Threats you receive online come from:
Your competition, Corporate and institutions, Colleagues, Personalities, Story subjects, Governments, Family and friends,Digital attacks, Malware, Key loggers(apps that record what you type), Trojan horse/backdoors- in softwares
What to be aware of when online:
Digital footprints. It’s very easy for someone to see what you do online. Anything and everything you post can be tracked down even months later. Always remember that the internet never forgets. Anyone going through your computer can tell what you’ve been up to by going through that and your bookmarks. You should also clear your cookies and cache. Don’t leave a way for anyone to track what you do online.
Call logs. You should erase your call logs. It’s very easy to go through it and see who you called, when you called them and for how long. Be careful when talking to sources about sensitive information.
SMS. Just like call logs, someone can get sensitive information from your message log. What’ worse is that with an SMS, someone can get a full thread of the conversation. Avoid using SMS to discuss information that you wouldn’t want anyone to get access to. Deleting old messages from your inbox is one sure way to keep yourself safe.
GPS locations. As cool as it is to send out posts and show your location, you should be wary of this. By having your GPS location turned, someone can easily track where you are as well as all the places you’ve been. Keep yourself safe by not revealing your location.
Look at your web of trust. Who is in your networks, what information do they have about you and what do they do with it? ‘you have to have links with trustworthy people. Give as little information to people as possible. The less they know, the safer you are. Live by the motto “Trust but verify”
Some apps to help you have safety online:
PC
TOR
Fidging + OTR
TrueCrypt
Keepass
Cryptocat
Mobile
Orbot
Orweb
ChatSecure (formerly Gibberbot)
Obscura