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Internet hacking is someone gaining access to your internet credentials. This leads to them being able to log in to your accounts and devices and be able to also access your personal information stored in those places.

This can be dangerous as your information can be stolen/leaked, hackers can log into your banking apps leading to theft as well as holding your accounts/devices for ransom, hackers can gain access to your private information and sell it to big companies for advertising purposes or hackers just simply want to cause a disturbance.

If you do not want this happening to you, here are the best ways to stay cyber secure

• Use strong passwords.

If you are setting a password for an online account or device, try and make one that is unique and does not include any public details of yourself including your name or birthday. A good way to make a unique password is to chose a word and break it up with different numbers and symbols to replace some of the letters, eg: instead of ‘hello’, use ‘h3ll0!’. Always remember to NEVER store the password to your devices and accounts on the device, if you must, write it down on paper and store it somewhere safe only you have access to.

• Activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

2FA allows you to add an extra layer of security with your password. You will get a unique one time password, a link or a secret code sent to your mobile or email address upon every log in to your accounts or for online banking, any time you go to make a transaction. There are also free third-party apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator that aid in enabling 2FA on mobile devices including all apps installed on the device.

• Recognise Spam Emails.

Spam emails have common flaws you need to look out for to protect you from a cyber attack.

1. Check the sender’s email address. If the email is very long and unusual, look out! If someone is claiming to be an employee from a big corporation, the email will always have the company name as their domain (‘@apple.com’, ‘@amazon.com’). It would never have a generic domain like ‘@gmail.com’ or ‘@hotmail.com’.
2. Check for punctuation or grammar mistakes. If the email is filled with poor grammar and vocabulary, do not ignore it. Established companies have strong standards regarding their online communication. This makes it uncommon for an email or post to have grammatical errors. So if you see these errors, be aware.
3. Is the email too good to be true? If the email is stating you have won a brand new iPhone with no information on how or why, it is most likely a scam. Scam emails commonly say you have won something to entice you to click on any attachments leading to a cyber breach.

• Use a VPN.

Using a VPN is another tool you can install to help keep you safe. A VPN will do a number of things including:

1. Secure encryption – hides your online activities even on public networks.
2. Disguising Location – hides your location from being accessed.
3. Prevent Data Theft – stops your personal data being taken and sold.
4. Accessing Blocked content – a VPN allows you to change your location to anywhere in the world to view content blocked in your country.

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The general rule of thumb when it comes to phishing spam is to make the email message you receive look as legitimate as possible to convince you to click the links contain within. The most common of these practices is presenting the message in the same format of a standard PayPal email with logo placement, font usage and layout. With these cloaking measures in place how do you tell what is real and what is fake?

To the untrained eye everything may seem ok, but when you know what to look forward you’ll see so many glaring inconsistencies you’ll start to wonder how anyone could possibly fall for this type of spam.

Lets look at a pretty standard phishing PayPal spam email notifying of a transaction made and offering a refund link if it is in fact incorrect.

PayPal Phishing Email Spam

• PayPal logo is in place, top left of email
• The format of the email is the same as a normal PayPal notifications
• Senders email address is marked as service@paypal.com

Now lets look a bit harder and you’ll see where the inconsistencies arise;

Ok now lets look at a valid PayPal email and you’ll see the glaring differences from above;

Valid PayPal Email

• Paypal logo is current and not embedded into email
• Senders email address is service@paypal.com, click Reply to validate and check email is not being spoofed
• Salutation is personally addressed and is that of account name
• Currency of transaction is in USD with conversion to AUD amount
• No text or URL links stipulating application for a refund and attempting to trick you into clicking a false link
• URL links to PayPal’s Buyer Protection, Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement are clearly marked

As with any transaction processed via PayPal you have full recourse if you have been charged incorrectly or haven’t been provided with the goods you paid for. These refunds should always be processed via logging into your account on PayPal’s website and only when it appears in your transaction list.

Our suggestion is to never and we repeat never click any of these suspicious links and always refer back to your account on PayPal to confirm if any charges have in fact been deducted.

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