South African National Cybersecurity Awareness Portal

Qaphela Online

Poster 3 (Venda)

The following are kid’s rules, tips and best practices for online safety:

Do not give out personal information such as your address, telephone number, and parents’ work address/telephone numbers without your parents’ permission. Tell your parents immediately if you come across something that makes you feel uncomfortable

Never agree to get together with someone you “meet” online without first checking with your parents. If your parents agree to the meeting, make sure that it is in a public place and bring a parent along.

Remember that not everyone online is who they say they are, don not befriend strangers. Do not post pictures or any content online that your parents consider to being inappropriate. Never respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make you feel uncomfortable. It is not your fault if you get a message like that. If you do, inform your parents immediately. Talk to your parents and set up rules for going online and using a mobile phone.

Decide with your parents upon the time of day that you can be online, the length of time you can be online and appropriate websites for you to visit. Do not access other websites or break these rules without their permission. Do not give out your passwords to anyone (even your best friends) other than your parents. Check with your parents before downloading or installing any software or doing anything that could possibly hurt your computer or mobile device or jeopardise your family’s privacy.

Be a good online citizen and not do anything that hurts other people or that is against the law. Help your parents understand how to have fun and learn things online and teach them things about the Internet, computers and other technology. Do not buy anything online without talking to your parents first. Some advertisements may try to trick you by offering free things or telling you that you have won something as a way of collecting your personal information.

More Information https://www.sabric.co.za/stay-safe/

The following are the tips and best practices for your devices:

Secure your smartphone enabling the lock screen and security function, be it a pattern password or fingerprint screen lock. Where possible do not save any sensitive personal information and bank account details on your electronic devices.

Think before you download apps to your mobile or tablet devices. Do not bypass built-in security measures. Only download mobile apps from secured and trusted sources. Read the access requirements before you accepting the software installation (android permissions) of new apps. Install mobile security and antivirus software from a trusted security vendor. Disable the “Sharing” functionality in your mobile device if not needed. Enable the settings to remotely locate and factory reset your electronic devices.

Keep your mobile device and antivirus software up to date with the latest security patches. Encrypt the data on your device where possible. Keep your computer operating system, Internet browser and security software up to date with the latest security patches.

Look for the lock icon on the Internet browser address when doing financial transactions online. Consciously check and configure application privacy settings on your mobile device and or PC. Properly dispose of electronic devices – Destroy or overwrite data. Encrypt all your data on the computer where possible.

More Information https://www.sabric.co.za/stay-safe/

The following are the tips and best practices for malicious software:

Install antivirus or antimalware. Take device to retailer/dealer for a scan. Provide steps to remove the virus manually. Provide steps on how to enable firewall. Make sure patches and software are up to date.

Provide steps on how to adjust browser Internet security settings. Use an Advanced Spam Filter in addition to your email’s filter for maximum protection. Keep your antivirus software up-to-date and scan suspicious emails.Understand that antivirus software is not a fail-safe method of detection, especially on newly created viruses and malware

Create and review the rules for your email’s spam filter and if needed, strengthen them to send suspicious emails to your Junk Folder. Use a disposable email address for public use. Make sure the spam filter is activated and use that address when signing up for web services. If you receive a suspicious email, do not click on any links and do not respond to it. Don’t even click the “Unsubscribe” link. Hackers will infect all links within the email so they can deliver their payload no matter which one you click on.

Clean out your Junk folder frequently and make sure you also delete those messages from your Deleted folder so that they are gone for good. Before you click, read everything. Make sure you uncheck any boxes that ask for permission to receive advertisement emails (unless you’re interested). Also, read the company’s privacy policy and make sure they’re not selling your information to third parties. Although ugly, a good protection mechanism is to set your email to render messages in plain text. That way, links will not be live and you won’t inadvertently be able to click on them and activate the malware. If you receive an email from a seemingly trusted source (i.e. FedEx, etc.) regarding packages, undelivered mail, etc. Do not click on the tracking link in the email even if it looks legitimate. Criminals are masters at spoofing trusted brands to get past your defences. Instead, go to the official website and type in the tracking number.

The following are the tips and best practices for malicious software:

Stay away from strangers – The internet provides a sense of anonymity; people can easily create fake profiles just to befriend you and misrepresent themselves. Always watch-out of the friend requests you accept. Do not post personal information – Posting personal information such your identity, address, schedule or routine may invite criminals using this information against you.

Pinch of a salt – Don’t believe everything you read online. People often post false or misleading information about various topics. Always verify the authenticity of this information before commenting or taking any action.

Evaluate your security settings – Always take advantage of a site's privacy settings and customize them in order to restrict access to only certain people. There is still a risk that private information could be exposed despite these restrictions, so don't post anything that you wouldn't want the public to see. Sites may change their options periodically, so review your security and privacy settings regularly to make sure that your choices are still appropriate.

The following are the tips and best practices for malicious software:

Check privacy policies – Before providing any personal or financial information, check the website's privacy policy. Make sure you understand how your information will be stored, transmitted and used.

Check privacy policies – Before providing any personal or financial information, check the website's privacy policy. Make sure you understand how your information will be stored, transmitted and used.

Verify that the website is legitimate – Attackers may redirect you to a malicious website that looks identical to a legitimate one. They then convince you to submit your personal and financial information, which they use for their own gain. Check the website's certificate to make sure it is legitimate.

Monitor your investments – Regularly check your accounts for any unusual activity. Report unauthorised transactions immediately.

I am safe, we are safe – What you do online has the potential to affect everyone – at home, at work and around the world. Practicing good online habits could benefit the global digital community.

Post about others as would have want them to post about you –The golden rule applies online as well.

Let cybercriminals face the mighty law – Report stolen identities or other cybercrime incidents to the Cybersecurity Hub (www.cybersecurityhub.gov.za) or to your nearest police station.

Share with care – think before posting about yourself and others online. Consider what a post reveals, who might see it and how it could be perceived now and in the future.

Do you https? – always check if a website starts with “https”, this means that a website encrypts the data you put and get from it, no one can eavesdrop or tamper with the data flow.

“http” not secure if a website starts with “http”, it means that it is not secure. Do not put in your personal or confidential information such as card details, password, identity, address, etc.

Disconnect your computer from the internet when you are not using it – Even if you only step away from your computer for a few minutes, it's enough time for someone else to destroy or corrupt your information. Locking your computer prevents another person from being able to simply sit down at your computer and access all of your information.

Choose a good anti-virus – Do a bit of a research and choose an antivirus that you trust.

Paid is better than free - Depending on your need, using a paid antivirus software is better than using a free one. This is for the obvious reason that paid one’s come with more added security features.

Protects you from consuming viruses – An antivirus is still very useful, so don’t skip it, It will protect you from a lot of computer viruses.

Maintain antivirus software – Make sure to keep your antivirus software up to date.

Don’t spam other people –Don’t forward every message to everyone in your address book, and if recipients ask that you not forward messages to them, respect their requests.

Don’t follow links on spam messages –Clicking on a link within an email message or reply to a certain address, is a sign confirming that your email address is valid. Unwanted messages that offer an “unsubscribe” option are particularly tempting, but this is often just a method for collecting valid addresses that are then targeted for other spam.

Report spam messages – Most email clients offer an option to report a message as spam or junk. If your email client has that option, take advantage of it. Reporting messages as spam or junk helps to train the mail filter so that the messages aren’t delivered to your inbox. However, check your junk or spam folders occasionally to look for legitimate messages that were incorrectly classified as spam.

South African Cybersecurity Awareness 2017

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