The ten commandments of the “father” of the internet in Portugal to protect yourself from cybercrime
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From a conversation with Pedro Veiga, considered one of the “fathers” of the internet in Portugal and former coordinator of the National Cybersecurity Center, on the subject of digital literacy and on how the unprepared use of technological tools can open a door to cybercrime, emerged a guide to good practices that must be installed in the daily lives of those who move in the digital world.
Here are the Ten commandments from Pedro Veiga:
- “Only read emails from trusted sources. The source must be identified. If an e-mail appears that the person does not recognize the origin of, he should simply delete it. Extreme care must be taken to do not open attachments and do not load on links. If an email from the bank is going to say that your credentials expire and that you need to click on something, you shouldn’t do that.”
- “Never use work email for personal purposes, how to register on e-commerce sites. Use personal accounts for this purpose.”
- “Do not visit sites that feature fantastic offers or content designed for clickbait. Don’t be attracted to it, it can be a trap.”
- “A password is like a toothbrush: it cannot be shared and must be changed regularly. Nobody gives their toothbrush to someone else to brush their teeth. In the same way, you should also change your brush when it starts to wear out. The same has to be done with passwords.”
- “Do not install applications of unknown origin or that raise suspicion no smartphones.”
- “Older applications, which are no longer used, must be deleted.”
- “Install frequently with latest updates applications and the operating system. When manufacturers release security updates, it is because they detect flaws in older versions.”
- “Do with high security frequencies your equipment, you need to recover lost data.”
- “Always be suspicious of a defined pen. Not how to enter it into the computer.”
- “multi-factor authentication. It is based on three principles: something I know, something I have and something I am. Something only the person knows is a password. Something that only the person has is, for example, a computer or a smartphone to which a 4 to 8-digit code will be sent to authenticate access. The most advanced systems use at least two factors to authenticate users. There is still a third factor that can be asked, which meets what the person is: it consists of systems that use facial recognition or fingerprint reading.”