Staying Safe Online

Stephan Freeman

• Increasing numbers of people on social networking sites

• More and more people leading their lives online

• Varying degrees of confidence online

• Still more to be done

Where do you go for help?

What’s the problem?

• Loads of information about individuals online

• Criminals getting more sophisticated – following the money• Current estimates – global Internet crime economy: $43bn

• The Internet is another public space – the same problems exist as in the “real world”

Don’t treat the online world any different to reality

The Rise of Social Networks

• Over 200m people now on Facebook

• Improvements in awareness of privacy controls:• 2007 – 50% of respondents to a GetSafeOnline survey didn’t know that privacy controls existed in social networking sites• 2009 – 75% of people have now set their privacy settings• Need to get the message to the remaining 25%

• Huge amount of information available

Social Network Risks

• Malware – “click on this link”

• Harassment – cyberbullying/stalking/worse

• Career prospects – drunken party photos never go away

• Extortion – guilty secrets

• Confidence Tricksters – friends in need

Social Network Risks

Privacy Controls

Social Networking

Other Current Threats

• Fake anti-virus – criminals selling you malware

• Money Mules – easy money = money laundering

• Phishing scams – if in doubt, don’t reply

• ID theft – getting credit in your name

Fake Anti-Virus

Money Mules

Money Mules

• If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is

• Often references Western Union

• Offers fast money

• Will leave you out of pocket and trash your credit rating

Phishing

Phishing

• Never give out your password – treat your password with respect

• Beware of banking scams – especially from banks you don’t bank with!

• Report it!:• if it relates to LSE, please tell the helpdesk• anything else, forward to spamsample@messagelabs.com

ID theft

• Rip up or shred important documents

• Check your credit rating

• Search for yourself online

• Consider what you put online – if it could potentially cause you damage, don’t do it!

Simple measures

• Don’t use the same password for everything

• Do make sure you have anti-virus software installed

• Do check out resources online

• Do set your privacy settings in Facebook et al.

• Do keep your computer up-to-date – including the browser!

• Do keep backups of important data

And this applies to LSE…

• Personal data held as part of projects is covered by the Data Protection Act

• The Conditions of Use of IT Services set out internal rules – please read them

• Don’t share your password with anyone – IT Services will never ask you for your password

• Visit the Laptop Surgery if you think your PC is infected

• Download the free anti virus that LSE provides for all students – including Mac users!

Online resources

LSE IT Services website: www.lse.ac.uk/itservices/infosec

GetSafeOnline:www.getsafeonline.gov.uk

TUC WorkSmart:www.worksmart.org.uk/nsfw/

Information Security Awareness Forum:www.theisaf.org

Sophos Facebook Best Practice Guide:www.sophos.com/security/best-practice/facebook.html

Questions?

Stephan Freemans.freeman@lse.ac.uk