Electronic Scams Escalated During The Pandemic: The Two Most Important Ways To Protect Your

According to Interpol, during a pandemic, consumers are more frequently targeted through deception and phishing. Such attacks account for up to 59 percent. all attacks, says Audrius Granickas, Huawei Mobile Services Business Development and Operations Manager. According to the interlocutor, the scammers cleverly create fake web addresses, very similar to the original ones, and seek to mislead confidential data. For example, login codes for online banking or credit card numbers.

Malicious applications work on a similar principle. At first glance, they remind us of the usual: it looks the same, it performs the function promised by the developers. But in reality, they are deliberately designed to infect devices, misuse information from unsuspecting users, or harm people.

The second most popular way (about 36%) to harm consumers, according to A. Granickas, is to infect mobile devices. A virus that enters a device can leak confidential information to users without even realizing it. This data can be used later for organized crime.

“Consumers who are trapped can lose not only sensitive information, but also money,” warns A. Granickas. The specialist shares two basic tips on how to protect your smart device from electronic scams.

Password and biometrics

A Lithuanian survey by Huawei showed that up to 24 percent of respondents do not use any means of protection. This number is alarming, as passwords are one of the easiest and most effective ways to protect personal data. How to create a good security key?

“Passwords must meet certain security criteria; do not use any personal data as well as simple number combinations. Include characters such as @;,.” In addition to nonsense letter combinations, “says the Head of Operations and Business Development of Huawei Mobile Services.

The specialist points out that it is not appropriate to write down passwords in device notes or on physical media. It is better to store them on password storage platforms like Password safe, NordPass or others. It also says that having facial or fingerprint recognition features on your phone is important. These biometric locks are stored only on the chip inside the device, making it impossible to hijack them remotely, says A. Granickas.

Vigilance when choosing gadgets

We use many applications on smart devices: one for productivity, one for communication, and the third for games. A. Granick cautions that they must be chosen carefully.

“To protect yourself from rogue devices, avoid unreliable download sources and suspicious-looking addresses. Only download apps from official stores like App Gallery or others. Also, check the visible information regularly. For example, when you see an ad for an application and decide to download a product, find out who created it, if the application has the necessary security certificates, look for user comments to make sure it is not malicious, ”says the specialist. number.

According to A. Granickas, by sending applications from official stores, you can feel more secure, because they apply various preventive measures. For example, AppGallery first identifies and verifies the identities of the developers, then if the apps are deceptive, what access to the data they require. In addition, Huawei’s own specialists test the devices manually.

“Even with applications that users already use, we are constantly retesting, evaluating the user experience to ensure that nothing has changed in these products and that users can continue to use them successfully,” said the Head of Operations and Business Development. from Huawei Mobile Services.

According to the interviewer, if you don’t see the device you want in the store, you can often find it on the device’s official website, such as Facebook. On the other hand, there are other ways to make this work much easier.

We recommend Huawei phone and tablet holders to use the petal search tool. Allows users to search and download applications from other sources besides AppGallery. In addition, it has been developed in collaboration with world and European search engine leaders, including Qwant, to meet the highest standards in the market. The new search tool, Huawei Petal Search, adheres to strict privacy standards. They are established by the main European programs for the protection of privacy and copyright. In addition, Huawei Petal Search always provides the origin of the search results, which gives users the opportunity to convince themselves that the application they want to download is completely safe, ”says A. Granickas.