cyber Adventura

Dad : Do you remember Taj, my ex colleague, he got duped, almost all of his savings was gone !!

Me : How on earth ?

Dad : (sighs) Yeah, he apparently got a phone call from his bank, shared his personal information, somehow those crooks stole his lifesavings.

Mom : (pensive) this is happening everywhere, I will keep visiting the bank rather than using our mobile or computer !

Me : ok but, do you still use your smartphone for social media ?

Both : (in chorus) of course, otherwise, how do we keep in touch with our friends and relatives ?

Mom : Yesterday , I received a message on my instagram account to vote for Jenny’s (family friend) daughter who is aspiring to be an influencer. I have to click on a link to download an app. You have to help me out.

Me : (exasperated) What ? Did you already click on it?

Mom : (mumbling) Err..Yeah , I clicked once, it sent me an sms and I have to inform the code to the friend of mine.

Me : (Choking) could you please show me ?

Mom : (confused) Why ? I didn’t provide any personal information, (handed me her smartphone)

Me : (Deleting message, sms and relieved no app downloaded) could you please call up your friend and verify if he had really sent you that message ?

Mom : (looking a bit worried) sure

Dad : (irritated) your mom is all into social media, and I am receiving reminders on unpaid utility bills , there is another sms on my phone.

Me : ( worried) Why? How? You are generally prompt and it is a direct debit from your bank account , right ?

Dad : yeah but now I see it , we just missed  deadline for payment, but so strange, we never received any reminders before !

Me : Gosh !! aren’t you aware this can be a phishing attack !

Mom : (shaken), checked on Jenny, she says that her daughters instagram account was hacked few months back , she hasn’t got back access to his account ever since. She mentioned something like Fishing method.

Me : Its PHISHING , for heaven’s sakes your son works in cybersecurity, you should have told me before !

Dad, Mom : (in chorus) , ok Whats Phishing ?

Me : (sermoning), When a crook tries to steal information from you or steal money from you by sending you a message involving urgency or installing an app, asking for a secret code sent through sms or ask you to click on a link and type your confidential information you must be careful as this is Phishing !

Dad : (perplexed) So I mustn’t click on any link

Me : (flabbergasted) : Yes, ask me before you click. If I am not available you must be sure it came from a legitimate source !

Mom : How ?

Me : A utility company or a bank would not send an email using domains similar to popular sites like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo. It is a common way to spot a fake email address is to check its hosted email address domain.

Dad : too technical, what is a domain ? 

Me : If you receive an email from someone claiming to be Sam Roberts from Donor bank using a email id as sam.roberts@gmail.com you would be sure it’s not legit. The domain from the legit source would look like sam.roberts@donorbank.com

Dad : Ok, is that all ?

Me : If you receive an email from this Sam Roberts that contains links or attachments, hover over them with your cursor first before clicking on them. If there is anything unusual or strange about them (such as an odd URL), don’t click on it!

Dad : then ?

Me : (pensively) …Instead, go directly to the source website by typing its URL into your browser (http://www). This way, you won’t accidentally download malicious software or viruses onto your computer when following links sent in emails from strangers!

Mom : Do I have to verify every letter in the email ?

Me : Good question, yes, as much as you can check for anomaly in letters, 0 (zero) must not be mistaken as O or the alphabet a must not be confused as “ɑ”

Mom : (visibly frustrated) Oh my God, I will need a separate set of glasses , what is this ɑ ?

Me : this alphabet comes from Cyrillic, it  is a Greek-like alphabet, which is used in Eurasian language families such as Czech, Ukraine, Russia, or Eastern Europe in general. The shape and characters of some alphabets are similar to Latin letters, making them susceptible to confusion.

Me : (confused as to where to stop)  when you visit a website using your computers or mobile device, make sure you check for the pattern there as well

Mom : but last time you told us to check for https://www or a padlock while checking a website

Me : Yeah but add this rule as well

Dad : I am overwhelmed !

Me : I know , but like a magic eye on the door, install a caller id on your phone, similar to safekeep the keys to your house, use strong passwords, use longer passwords with alphanumeric and special characters, similar to using double locks, use Multi factor authentication

Both : ok, this is too much for today, we have to take our meds , will try to remember those and can you please repeat those tips and tricks tomorrow ?

Me : Sure

The screenplay has been overdramatized to raise awareness. Resembleness to anyones conversation with parents or grandparents or members of family/friends is purely coincidental