From video conferencing apps to app stores and scam emails - how to stay safe online

We live in a world where a virus can affect more than your immune system. It can affect your computer, your smartphone, and eventually have an effect on your bank account. The most common thought when talking about cybersecurity is that “this won't happen to me!”. But what if it does? Are you prepared? Do you know what to do? Cybersecurity, especially during a time of the pandemic is paramount. People will take undue advantage of your vulnerability. If you get an e-mail from the WHO asking you to donate money (they never do this, by the way), it could look like a legitimate email. But underneath it all is a hacker, waiting for you to click on a link and get access to your financial data. This act of sending you a mail to extract information from you is called phishing. We live in a world where everyone is looking for a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic and it can get easy to fall into such traps.

Since most of the world is working from home, people are also staying in touch via video calling apps. And we all know the vulnerabilities Zoom faced before getting fixed. If you are interested in knowing how to keep yourself safe online and want to know more about the world of cybersecurity explained in simple terms, then you should watch the video below. We talk to Rahul Tyagi, Co-Founder, Lucideus about the Zoom vulnerabilities, the Aptoide app store hack, contact tracing apps, and even some human greed. 

From the interview is it clear that one needs to be in the habit of being safe. Just like our parents told us “don't talk to strangers”, we need to tell our parents, “don't share your password” or don't use the same password on multiple accounts.” actually, this holds true for us as well. Generating a tough password is easy, but remembering it is the hard part. We talk about password security as well. There is also the ever-important question - What can I do to be safe online? Which are the best video conferencing apps? How do I check if an unknown person is in my video call waiting room? We’ll answer the last one right here. Just read the names. If one of them sounds fishy, talk to them directly, or simply kick them out of the room. 

When it comes to apps, don't trust the developer especially if he is an individual. Don't trust the number of downloads either. Trust the comment sections. If a person has an issue with the app, they usually want to express their dissatisfaction in the comments section. Also, remember, nothing is free. If an app is free, then you are the product, not the other way around. Check out all these topics and a lot more in the interview above.