October 2022 Full PDF final

CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY
CYBERCRIMES INCREASING AT AN ALARMING RATE!
Despite the capability, cybercrime
is on the rise in Bangladesh. According
to the research report,
cybercrimes that have increased
in 2022 compared to 2021 include
social media harassments, scams,
fraud while buying products online,
pornography, copyright
crimes, etc. There has been an
alarming increase in cybercrimes
like social media and other online
accounts hacking or information
theft. The report found that
23.79% of the participants were
victims of online account hacking
including social media. Additionally,
in the last report of 2021, the
incidence of spreading misinformation
through social media was
16.31% which raised to 18.67%
this year. In addition, the number
of victims of fraud, while using
social media and buying products
online is also noticeable. About
15% of victims were defrauded
while buying products online as
per the report. Harassment by
using photos or videos of sexual
harassment incidents or intimate
moments has also increased at
an alarming rate. The rate of harassment
using photos or videos
of private moments or sexual
harassment incidents was 7.69%
last year, but it has increased to
9.34% this year. The incidence
of harassment by using photoshopped
images was 5.85% last
year, which has increased to
6.93% in the new report.
CYBERCRIMES THAT ARE PICKING PACE IN BANGLADESH:
• Claiming money by hacking social media accounts, emails or websites
• Harassment with fake accounts on social media
• Extortion of money by threat of defamation by hacking confidential information
• Threatening and harassing to share photos or videos of private moments
• Spreading private photos on various troll groups or pages on social media
• Fraud in the name of selling products by opening fake pages in the name of ecommerce
• Robbing money by hacking bank and other financial account details
CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH
Appropriate initiatives are required
to eliminate these raising
cybercrimes in Bangladesh. Every
year in the month of October,
'Cyber Security Awareness Month
(CAM)' is celebrated in different
countries to highlight various information
to remain protected
against cyber-attacks. As part of
this global initiative, Bangladesh
is also conducting 'Cybersecurity
Awareness Month 2022' programme
throughout the month
of October. The National Committee
on Cybersecurity Awareness
Month (NCCAM) has been formed
with various linked organisations
and technology professionals to
carry out this programme and they
are conducting various awareness
activities around the country. NC-
CAM has set the theme for this
year's cybersecurity awareness
month as 'Being safe online is not
hard, just need to be careful'. NC-
CAM suggests that maintaining
cyber security will not be difficult
if only four steps that are divided
into four weeks, are followed.
First Week: Turn on multi-factor authentication. With increased sophistication in hacking methods, having
strong passwords on all your systems is no longer enough. So, all the important services: Facebook, Twitter,
Gmail, Online Banking have a multifactor option through which you can confirm your identity in a way other
than a password.
Second Week: Use strong passwords. Passwords should be changed at least every three months. Different
applications should have dissimilar and solid passwords. Password manager can be used if passwords are
difficult to remember.
Third Week: Update your device on a regular basis. Using any pirated software on laptop, desktop or with
Android is not recommended. You can use valid or authentic anti-malware software for scanning.
Fourth Week: Recognise and report phishing. If you receive a phishing link in your email or mobile phone,
delete the message. The first rule of caution is to not click on anything unusual even if it comes from someone
close to you. However, if you click on the link by any chance, you should quickly change the passwords of
as much accounts as possible. If anything important is present on the device then law enforcement should
be notified.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
AGAINST CYBERCRIME:
Keep operating system and
software updated
Use anti-virus software and
keep it updated
Use strong and diversified
passwords
Do not click on links in spam
emails or untrusted websites
Never share OTP, PIN number,
bank card number with anyone
Be cautious of which websites
you visit
Use multi-factor authentication
feature on social media accounts
Remove sensitive conversations
and messages containing crucial
information on social media
HOW TO TACKLE CYBERCRIME?
Now the question that arises is whether cybercrime is unstoppable,
or is it possible to control it? The answer is that cybercrime
is not insurmountable at all. Preventing and controlling
cybercrime activities requires awareness at all levels, and increasing
awareness needs goodwill from individual to state
level. Just as an individual has to work on creating awareness
within his family, similarly the state should focus on constructing
public opinion against this cybercrime on a large scale.
Moreover, influential organisations should also attempt to
create awareness within their periphery. Health, technology,
media and telecom, and government and public sectors reported
cybercrime as their biggest threat. On the other hand,
sectors such as financial services and retail cited customerinitiated
online fraud as their prime threat. The good news is
that these organisations are doing their best to enhance their
technical capabilities in order to implement stronger internal
controls and make themselves more resilient to cybercrime.
During the last two years, many business organisations in the
country, particularly banks, started to review their technology
infrastructure to make it more robust to prevent cyberattacks.
Organisations must spend a significant amount of time understanding
the possible weak links through which they are vulnerable
to external attacks.
Statistics show that the amount of awareness that should
have been created at the national level has not yet been generated.
To avert cybercrime from state level, all school textbooks
should have cyber awareness topics, how cybercrime victims
can get legal help should be widely publicised in simple and
understandable language. Now let's come to the second important
issue that is about the ability of those who will deal
with this crime. Of course, the activities of the cyber police
should be expanded nationwide. The people who will work in
this sector should have relevant knowledge and should focus
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