CILIPS Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland
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MmITS AGM 2017 and @AbertayHackers event

Category: Blog

The CILIP Multimedia Information and Technology Group, Scotland 14th AGM took place at the Mitchell Library on 2nd June 2017. Chairperson, Anne Louise Anglim, extended a warm welcome to members and non-members alike in attendance to review the year’s activities and learn a thing or two from our post-AGM presenters – the @AbertayHackers.

The @AbertayHackers are currently enrolled on the UK’s only Masters programme in Ethical Hacking and work with the Scottish Business Resilience Centre to produce resources that enable businesses to protect themselves against cyber crime. Luckily for us, they had lots of advice for private citizens as well. The overarching message was that individuals need to take responsibility for their own cyber security – there isn’t one single product or expert that can do it for you.

So what can we do to protect ourselves? Thankfully, the @AbertayHackers recognised that not everyone in the room was an expert in tech and they had a small arsenal of techniques and tools we could all use to make ourselves a good bit safer online. They exposed the little lazy things we have all been guilty of doing in an attempt to make life easier for ourselves and beseeched us to STOP! We all know it deep down but those passwords we use time and again, changing them only by the number at the end really have to go. “Size matters” they told us – use a pass phrase instead of a password. Length takes priority over complexity so a line from your favourite movie is likely to work much better than where you went on holiday last year followed by %50$!! Free password managers like www.lastpass.com or https://1password.com/ will store all of them for you in a cyber safe meaning you only have to remember one.

Phishing scams – emails that encourage you to visit bogus websites – are becoming ever more sophisticated so take your time before clicking a link no matter how official it seems. HMRC are a perpetual target so if you receive an e-mail saying you are due a tax return BEWARE! Think about the context of the e-mail, the domain and whether anything is different from communication you have received previously. If you are unsure, you can always get to the real site by following the normal links via Google.

We all hate updates right! On our phones, our laptops, PC’s – it feels like we are constantly being asked to update and updates slow us down. Well, the NHS decided they didn’t have time for an update and look what happened there. Get the most up to date version of your operating system – hackers have had the time to work with older systems. They want in and out quickly and are much less likely to target up-to-date systems.

Social media accounts are a treasure trove for hackers – they can gather a scary amount of information about you, your family and everyone you are linked with from what you post publicly so be careful and use the privacy settings. If you are posting on social media and are also on the open electoral roll they shout BINGO! Now they have your address, your date of birth, they know where you work, what brands you like to buy and so it goes on. You can opt out of the open roll without affecting your right to vote https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/opt-out-of-the-open-register

Small things can make a big difference. Hackers want a fast and easy target, it’s your responsibility to ensure that’s not you.

Many thanks to our cyber superheroes who shall remain nameless!

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