A book « Better be safe than sorry »

Fire up your favorite web search engine, and search for the word “cyberattack”. The result is startling. Companies, government bodies, local authorities, hospitals, universities, individuals… the already extensive list of cyberattack victims is growing every day.

Nobody is safe. In most places in the real world, you can go out, do your shopping, take a walk, and engage in all kinds of activities without worrying about being attacked. On the Internet, the situation is completely different. Our digital world is full of hackers, fraudsters, spies, and all kinds of cybercriminals. It’s fair to describe cyberspace as a cut-throat environment. As soon as you connect a machine to the Internet and start browsing and receiving and sending e-mails, the following things happen: Your computer will be targeted by a multitude of technical attacks seeking to discover whether an intrusion is possible; you’ll receive a variety of scam emails; you’ll be targeted by attempts to install various types of malware (viruses and other Trojans); you’ll be approached by different types of scammers on your social networks, etc.

So what do you do? Stop using digital tech and stay offline? Of course not. The digital world offers so many advantages, and is transforming our way of life in such profound ways, that giving it up is unimaginable. So how can you make use of it without becoming another victim of cybercrime? The good news: Protecting yourself, and avoiding the traps set for you online, isn’t that hard. In this book, you’ll discover that you can keep yourself safe on your digital journey simply by picking up a few good habits along the way.

Let me take you on a voyage of discovery into the world of cybersecurity. The goal is not to turn you all into experts; but rather, to give you a few pointers so that you can understand what you’re dealing with, and what simple and effective measures and steps you can take to keep yourself safe.

We’ll start this journey with a foray into the world of cybercrime. “Know your enemy,” as Sun Tzu said. So, before we start talking about the right digital approach to adopt, we might as well find out who and what we’re up against. We’ll be taking a tour of the various different profiles of cybercriminals, their motivations, and the tools they use. After that, we’ll look at some of the attacks and scams these cybercriminals are especially fond of.

“Know thyself,“ as Socrates said. It’s also useful to understand the failings we have that cybercriminals use to achieve their ends, and the psychological methods they employ to manipulate us.

Lastly, we’ll conduct a comprehensive review of cybersecurity topics from the point of view of a digital user, and consider the appropriate protective strategies for each of them.