Hoaxes and phishing are very common nowadays. The scammers try to take advantage of the fact that many users of new technologies are sometimes innocent with regard to these issues. The latest hoax that is becoming very viral has to do with banks.
Many times they have come to us text messages from the bank asking us to send our data because a problem has been registered, or because directly “we have an overdraft, a debt, or they want to give us money”. These messages slip in perfectly because they are identified with the name of the entity, so it is very easy to click on the links that they offer us. It’s as simple as clicking and entering your data. At that point, hackers will have already stolen everything from you, so be careful and follow these tips he offered Jose Manuel Redondofull professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oviedo, to LA NUEVA ESPAÑA last April.
“We can all be victims, let’s not see it as something distant. These cybercriminals send millions of messages and some always bite. There are thousands of different ones circulating. They are well-crafted hoaxes, with perfect use of Spanish, in which they use psychological tactics, they can take advantage of the fact that you had a bad day…”, Redondo said. For this reason, we must always be on the alert and, from the outset, distrust. Scams can reach us today through multiple channels –email, SMS, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tinder, Tik Tok…–, but, points out the computer systems security specialist, “an action is necessary by our part to be affected.” Just a simple click.
Redondo is the expert who has been training professors and researchers at the University of Oviedo in cybersecurity since last March. “They are masters in what they do, but their computer knowledge is less,” he says. The first pilot course was a complete success and it was precisely about internet scams. “It’s terrible, there are more and more. Hollywood is missing out on some good writers,” he says. In addition, in many cases they take advantage of recent misfortunes, such as the pandemic, the La Palma volcano or the war in Ukraine, and seek to steal from many people. And those who fall do not file complaints out of shame,” he warns. Hence the importance of training all sectors of the population.
The University, which “cannot be oblivious to this phenomenon”, has gotten its act together, giving classes to its professors. The next step, in the summer, will be to train the administration and services staff (PAS). “Furthermore, we are going to extrapolate the model to the rest of the G-9 universities”, celebrates José Manuel Redondo. The next challenge will be to reach the students. “Maybe we have to integrate this knowledge into the curriculum of some subject to reach all students,” he says. On the other hand, the University of Oviedo is aware that four companies are in talks to launch a chair on cybersecurity, which would give this field a greater boost in Asturias.