It's good to be skeptical in virtual world: Ankit Fadia

Computer security expert and noted ethical hacker Ankit Fadia has said that being skeptical in the virtual world proves out to be beneficial in warding off growing threats originating from the internet.
He said that even with ubiquitous use of smartphones, awareness on cyber security issues among computer users in the country is still very poor.
"Like in case of Nigeria, scampers send SMS, saying that you won a lottery; and people fall for such a trick. I think people need to just look at everything with lot of cynicism and paranoia. Users should not easily trust anything," Fadia, told PTI recently on the sidelines of the programme of the launch of his latest book 'SOCIAL'.

The second example Fadia gave was the video of the Malaysian airline which went missing.
"There was a video doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter that the aircraft has been found. People pressed on the play button and it was actually a virus. It would copy the contact list and send copies of the same virus to everybody in the list," Fadia explained.
Fadia advocated installing an anti-virus on mobile phones, disabling wi-fi, bluetooth and judicious opening of attachments or forwards as some practical measures to protect self from potential cyber threats.

"From a technical perspective, users should have an anti-virus on their mobile phones as well. It is better to disable wi-fi and bluetooth on phones. So that somebody else is not able to hack using Bluetooth or wi-fi. When you get any attachments, photographs or forwards on WhatsApp, don't blindly open it," he suggests.

He also said that mobile applications should be downloaded from their official store and not from the internet.
The expert laid emphasis on the need to report cyber crimes to the police.
"Most common frauds happen on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. And typically, women are targeted. In cases of morphed picture, circulating online, just one person reporting online will not result in anything. Maximum number of people should report," he said.