2018-10467 BA 180.

1 WFR
PATACSIL, Reden R. Feb 12, 2020
HACKER TARGET: How Desperation and Lack of Awareness are Opportunities for Cyber Attacks
Cybersecurity is a very relevant topic right now considering the plethora of devices and millions of
people using these devices which are all susceptibly to cybersecurity threats. With the knowledge that I
gained regarding cybersecurity and risk management, I realized how I made myself, and how other people
too, made ourselves more vulnerable to these threats.
From my experience, people who are in desperate need of something are the easier preys to cyber
attacks. Personally, I once had my laptop get infected by a malware out of desperation to download a
pirated version of MS Office. I was able to download one, but in the process of searching for one, I
unfortunately got a trojan virus and a slower computer with it. I was only saved by a backup that I did a
week before the trojan incident. Now, I already have a free MS Office suite from UP ITDC. However, if I
have no free MS Office, I think I can use an alternative software such as LibreOffice. I think this is also
applicable to a lot of Philippine businesses. Still, a lot of businesses in the country use pirated software for
their operations despite cybersecurity threats and some just choose to adopt the basic security controls,
rather than a more complete one, since, following the concept of cost and benefit, the benefit that they may
receive may not be enough to offset the cost that they will incur.
Some are more vulnerable to cyber attacks due to their lack of awareness of cybersecurity, how
cyber attacks works, and how to prevent it. I remember how I once nagged my mom, who is in her 60s and
a newbie in using the internet back then, to be careful with messages saying she can receive something for
free or that she won something, though she did not join anything. I told her that she is simple giving out
her private information for free which other can use to fake their identity and put my mom at risk. In this
situation, I think the IT security defense-in-depth model is applicable. As for our case, I am the
implementor of cybersecurity at home and to get them interested, I send my family, especially my mother
and father, links of videos to convince them of the importance of cybersecurity. Next, to enforce
cybersecurity at home, I tell them tips to avoid phishing - the one my parents are most susceptible to. Some
of these tips are to conduct their own research of the signs of phishing or to contact the company involved
using their official contact information to verify if a message is true. Lastly, to prevent physical hacking, I
registered my mother’s fingerprint on her phone so only she can unlock her phone. This is how an IT
security defense system works at our home. It was also Christmas 2019 that I told my mother to stop
sharing and sending links that says it will give you a "Christmas surprise" even though it is only nothing
but a suspicious link. This shows how victims of cyber attacks does not even know that they already made
themselves susceptible to hackers and that they are even being used as vehicles to spread the threat to other
without them knowing. These are the reasons why educating people about cybersecurity, even by simply
sharing infographics or conducting awareness drives, is important for without it, you would not even be
able to identify the presence of cyber threats, thus, not allowing you to prevent it nor provide solutions
when it happens to you.
The Internet revolutionized information technology and made a lot of things easier for most of the
population. However, with it comes costs such as new ways to exploit people through cyber attacks. This
is why I really appreciate the efforts of some organizations and businesses who prevent black-hat hackers
and fortify their applications to protect their users, and politicians who tirelessly lobby bills to help
improve the cyber security in the country. For someone who uses social media in a daily basis, I find it
reassuring if the application I'm using provides security measures such as that of Twitter that alert you if
someone is trying to log in to your account using an unfamiliar device. It is only right for these companies
to help its users manage cybersecurity risks or else, they will really lose a lot of users given the sensitivity
of people to personal information nowadays. Lastly, every user must play their part in protecting
themselves from cyber attacks by using resources in the internet, such as YouTube or Google, to know
more about cybersecurity and how they can prevent cyber threats.