Strangers keeping tabs on South African Internet tabs

In the light of ample incidents of online hacking all over the world in the past year, Stellenbosch University Computer and Information Science expert, Christo Goosen says ordinary South African Internet users are fish in the nets of governmental, enterprise and criminal online surveillance.

Systems which watch mislead and attack Internet users "usually can't think like humans to identify particular targets", Goosen explains.

"Just think of fishing with a net. It cannot catch the specific fish the fisherman favors. It catches all the fish in the area."

Goosen refers to a streaming video by the online security company Norse DarkMatter, to illustrate why all people should be concerned about their Internet security. The video visually maps a small percentage of the online attacks, as they happen, across the world.

In the video coloured rays, representing various online attacks, beam from the country they are launched into the area they are aimed at. Every second manifold attacks light up the world map.

 

Norse DarkMatter use less than 1% of their collected data to create a daily 
visualisation on their website of a small percentage of live 
online attacks across the globe.

The Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute's website explains that hackers often want control of everyday users’ computers, because it “gives them the ability to hide their true location as they launch attacks, often against high-profile computer systems such as government or financial systems”.

 

"Even if you have a computer connected to the Internet only to play the latest games or to send email to friends and family, your computer may be a target. Intruders may be able to watch all your actions on the computer, or cause damage to your computer by reformatting your hard drive or changing your data."

 

The Institute explains that hackers exploit loopholes in your computer’s software, employ viruses or use the often default public access settings of software applications, like chat programs, to gain access to your computer.

 

This year, LinkedIn, a professional social network, used by more than 2,2 million South Africans by 2013’s year-end, made confidential user information vulnerable to hackers with their advertising tactics, leaking many private email addresses.

 

A year ago thousands of thousands of South Africans' credit card details were stolen from fast food restaurants databases, like KFC.

 

Stellenbosch University System Administrator, Hilton Gibson, explained in a recent lecture on Internet security, at the university, why the Internet is a platform for information insecurity.

"The internet was never designed to be secure," he says.

"It was designed for the American military for military computers to talk to each other without fuss - without passwords and security," Gibson explains.

Goosen's tips to try avoid unwanted surveillance

- In South Africa, every time we buy a simcard, we sign a document named RICA (Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act). Rica enables the government to keep tabs on our communication, if they see it necessary.

- Be wary of any operating systems (like windows and mac), or services (like Dropbox, iCloud, Google, Facebook and Amazon) that originate from America. The American government and the NSA (National Security Agency) have legal access to information on American systems and services, under specific circumstances. It's almost impossible to avoid all these programs, so just be aware of the information you store on them.

- Watch out for services where your information is stored on a company server (like at your work). According to some countries' legislation and the company's usage policies, this information can be classified as the company's property. Check out your work contract - it is quite common for companies to keep an eye on your communication and Internet usage, at work. Your use of work facilities and work Internet is usually subject to their rules.

- Use open-source information, services, software or operating systems. The fact that the information is open to the public usually means the rights of the users are prioritised above that of the company. It also usually means users can review the available information.

- Make use of the privacy settings on web pages and services. Facebook is a good example of a service that gives users a good deal of power over their privacy.

- Don't put information on the Internet that you wouldn't give to a stranger on the street.

- Use encryption. Encryption hides the information of messages between the sender and the receiver.

- Use software like Tor. Tor is a system which encrypts your information and hides the sender and the recipient’s address while information moves across the Internet.

- Consider using Tails Linus. Tails Linux is an operating system, automatically used by Tor, for any communication via the Internet. Tails Linux should preferably be put on a flashdrive. It need not be installed on your computer to function. Tails doesn't store your computer information and once you remove the flashdrive, no one will be able see such records.

- Never click or download things you don't know the content of or trust the origin of.