What does cyber security risk mean to you!?

By Margaret.

Each one of use experience advertising annoyance and we do our best to tolerate it and ignore because we simple know it means income to many. But what about more pernicious forms of advertising that are not just a nuisance but actually pose a potential security risk, like so called “injected ads” that somehow find their way into our web browsers through software downloads and extensions. System that injects ads works by replacing ads that are supposed to be served to your browser, or inserting completely new and unwanted ads. It is hard to find one single user today that has not been affected by these injectors acquired through free software downloads. This is why its imperative to get your software downloads from somewhere you can trust, like kuba download.com. Scary number of around 50,000 extensions and 35,000 applications are marked as ad injectors by Google Security only.

What‘s a risk of being affected? The fact that almost half of the software downloads act maliciously against users stealing credentials and hijacking your search queries makes no one feel comfortable behind keyboards and my personal feeling is that I may be victim of cyber crime. It is type of crime that is particularly difficult to investigate and prosecute because it often crosses legal jurisdictions and even international boundaries. One of risk reducing tips suggested by most of internet security organizations is to keep passwords changing habit and to make long, strong and unique passwords with upper case letters, symbols and numbers. Think about what other personal information may be at risk. You may need to contact other agencies depending on the type of theft. For example, if a thief has access to your Social Security number, you should contact the Social Security Administration. You should also contact your state Department of Motor Vehicles if your driver’s license or car registration is stolen.

Protecting yourself has always been the best option to stay safe. There are several steps that keep risk from becoming a threat: Keep a clean machine by making sure your security software, operating system and web browser are up to date; when in doubt throw it out-don’t click on any links or open attachments unless you trust the source, set your browser security high enough to detect unauthorized downloads, use a pop-up blocker, protect all devices that connect to the internet , back up your data regularly and ensure that all family members follow these safety tips as well.

Freelance media community is taking steps to prevent risks as well. The newest opportunity to present your interpretation of “Risk” at Aon Peril Exhibition 2015 is even giving hard working freelance community members an opportunity to win 1000 Amazon Vouchers Prize. Express your views and submit an image with the most creative interpretation of “Risk” using any medium you see fit. The shortlist entries will be exhibited in the Embassy Tea Gallery in London for a week. The winning entry will be judged by some leading industry judges and will win a 1000 prize fund.

Entries will be judged by some leading industry experts

Angela McArthur Artist, Founder of Arterial Contemporary, Senior Lecturer at Ravensbourne
Barry Ryan Managing Director, Executive Producer & Creative Director, Free @ Last TV
Dennis Morrison Founder & Creator of Audience Magnet
Elliot Grove Founder of Raindance and British Independent Film Awards
Ben Mallaby BAFTA nominated director and Senior Lecturer in Film Production at Ravensbourne

Entry submission