February 11, 2023 • 14 mins
Clare Dundas from Crime Stoppers Victoria is back! In this episode, Peter Greco learns valuable information from Clare to help minimise your chances of being hacked.
You can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 00
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
One of our regular guests last year and made a
wonderful impression was Claire Dundas from Crime Stoppers Victoria. And
great to welcome Claire back for 2023. Claire Happy New
Year and thanks for coming on board again.
S2 (00:16):
Hi Peter, It's great to be back with you and
Happy New Year to you too.
S1 (00:20):
Now we're happy, hopefully for everyone, but you got some
warnings in very topical and timely regarding hackings.
S2 (00:27):
I do. Hacking was a timely topic in 2022 with
some very high profile incidents, but hacking is still around
in 2023 and we need to be aware. We need
to know a few tips and tricks on ways that
we can protect ourselves. And just a little bit more
about hacking. I think everyone could do with a bit
of an update.
S1 (00:48):
Okay. Got to define what is hacking. I mean, we've
all heard about it on the news, etc.. Optus and
Medibank kind of caught the brunt of it. But what
is hacking, particularly if we're talking about individuals or smaller identities,
if you like?
S2 (01:00):
Yeah, at the most simplistic level. Hacking occurs when a
scanner gains access to your personal information via devices such
as your computer, mobile or network. So we're talking very
simply about a scammer getting access to your computer, let's say,
or your mobile phone and being able to access all
of your data and personal information.
S1 (01:22):
How can they do that, though? I've got my phone
in my hand here. How can they possibly get hold
of it?
S2 (01:26):
Well, there's a few ways they can do that. But
just to kind of give you the size of the
problem here, Peter, Australians lost close to $3 million last
year to hacking scandal. So we're not talking about a
small amount of money here. We're talking about a sizeable problem.
S1 (01:40):
So how do they do it? How do how do
I how do they get me or how do I
get hacked?
S2 (01:44):
So there's many different ways that they can do it,
but I'll go through some of the most common methods used.
And the two terms that I'll bring up with you
are malware and ransomware. Have you heard of them before?
I've heard of them. So let me tell you what
they are. Malware is where scan is. Trick you into
installing software that gives them access to your computer and
all your files. And you might think, Oh no, that
(02:06):
would never happen to me. But they've got very tricky
ways of doing it. And ransomware is where a scammer
demands payment to unlock your computer or files. And both
of these situations can cause a heap of stress. But
the way that they do it is very tricky. So
it could be initiated by a phone call to say
that know something's been alerted that there's something wrong, whether
(02:28):
it be an account of yours or your anti-virus protection
software is out of date or there's so many different ways.
And what they'll do is, in most cases, is offer
to fix a problem. And by that, they need access
to your computer. And then once you've given them access,
you give them access to everything, and it comes with
a host of problems. So we really need to be
(02:52):
careful when it comes to giving access to anyone, to
any of our devices or any of our accounts. But
they do have very, very tricky ways of doing it.
So I guess the other sort of piece of advice
is to just be wary. If anyone's asking you to
do anything, you just need to make sure that you
think that they're a credible source.
S1 (03:11):
What about things like links in emails or text messages
that you wanted?
S2 (03:16):
That is a huge problem too. So we kind of
class that all together is exploiting security weaknesses, and that's
a really commonly used method as well. And it's not
really as technical as the malware in the ransomware. It's
where they just stake out a weakness. And that could
be an out of date antivirus software. So they're able
to get into your devices easily, get passwords or reuse passwords.
(03:40):
And then another really common one is the unsecured Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth connection. So if you're out and you've connected
to the free public Wi-Fi, that's a great chance for
scammers to get in and get into your devices there. So, okay,
regardless of the why they're getting in, they just once
they're in, they can they've got access to everything.
S1 (04:01):
Well, a lot of cafes, public libraries, a lot of
organisations or situations like that do have free public Wi-Fi.
So what sort of things should you not do when
you've got access to those? If you're, you know, either
with someone or on your own maybe having a coffee
and you're, you know, fiddling around on the Internet.
S2 (04:21):
So you can by all means use public Wi-Fi and
the free Wi-Fi that you stay around, but don't be
using any of or accessing any sensitive information when you're
on those. So don't access your bank accounts. Don't access
any of your personal details when you are logged into
those secure wi fi connected sorry unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Your
(04:43):
y fi at home is a secured Wi-Fi connection when
you're out and about that's unsecured. And we don't want
you to be dealing with any of your sensitive information.
S1 (04:52):
One of the things I did learn from you last
year in particular was passwords either important to be there,
need to change them and also make sure you're not
using password as your password.
S2 (05:03):
Absolutely. We. They'd go into that and password high grade.
It comes up all the time. We've heard it so
many times, you know. Use really complicated passwords. Make sure
that it's really long. And it's a combination of numbers and,
you know, symbols and and letters and all these sort
of things. But it actually is crazy to think how
(05:24):
important that is because these scammers are professional at guessing passwords.
They do it all the time. They have software that
they can put in to try and guess your password
as well. So it just I don't even have to
think of it. So the more complicated we can make
it and in the simple things, it's not using the
same password for different accounts and don't reuse all passwords.
These things can really help protect us.
S1 (05:45):
What about knowing that we've been hacked? If we have suspicions,
are there some telltale signs? Are there things that we
or indeed, you know, might be someone we know or love,
maybe someone we're caring for, someone that we're kind of
helping out as far as their Internet stuff goes? Are
there things that we should be on guard about as
far as maybe telltale signs?
S2 (06:06):
Absolutely. And one of them that stuck out to me
that I thought, oh, gosh, I wouldn't normally think of
that is if your computer is running slow is a
warning sign. So your computer running slow and you might
not notice, but there could be a new icon, pop
pop up on your screen. And that means that the
hacker has gotten in and they've downloaded some software to
(06:26):
be able to access your personal information there. So if
your computer's running slow for no reason at all and
you've got all your software in check and things, that
could be a warning sign for you. So it's something
to definitely take note of. Another one? Yeah. Files that
have been removed or deleted on your computer. So you
haven't done it, but for some reason you can't locate
(06:47):
a file or it's been deleted. That's another telltale sign
that you could have been hacked.
S1 (06:53):
So basically what you're saying is, if those instances show up,
someone's actually got into your computer, you know, they haven't
actually physically opened up your computer typing your password and
got in. But remotely that that somehow got in.
S2 (07:05):
It could be definitely a sign to tell you that
they have. So these are some of the things that
we should be looking out for. Another one is you're
an able to log in to your device, personal account
or online account. So if you're being shot at and
you know that you're using the right password, you've logged
in yesterday and all of a sudden you can't log
in the next day. It could be the case where
(07:28):
a hacker has gotten in and then they've changed your
password on you so you no longer have access. So
this would be another warning sign.
S1 (07:35):
You've touched on the password thing, and that's very, very
good message. What about as far as keeping things up
to date, as far as your software guys or your
anti-spyware guys? And how important is that?
S2 (07:47):
Oh, it is so important. The other one just to
watch out for is pop up boxes that might appear
on your screen. So you're just using your laptop, as
you always would, but a pop up box comes onto
your screen asking you to actually suggesting that you have
a problem and that they can fix the problem. That
is definitely a warning sign and do not click on it.
(08:08):
But as you just mentioned, keeping your computer software up
to date is so important and make sure that you're
doing regular updates and conducting scans where they can scan
through your computer to make sure that there's no malware
or ransomware on there. The technology is that could take days.
But the other tip on that one is to make
sure that you're buying your software from a source in
(08:30):
the first place. You know, I scan is that you
can put software out there that they say is antivirus software,
but it's actually giving them the access to your computer.
So make sure you buy it from a reputable source. Okay.
S1 (08:42):
Well, I think we probably kind of all know the
therapy for once and maybe also to speak to friends
or family that might be using stuff that they recommend
or they think is working well for them. That might
be another kind of checklist to tick off as far
as reputable work goes. Clearly, if someone is hacked and
I know, you know, I probably people would be embarrassed
(09:02):
about sort of admitting to the fact what what should
we do? I mean, there's no point in doing nothing,
is there? Because the next person might get tagged as well.
S2 (09:10):
Absolutely not. There are a few steps that we can
definitely take and it can help the next person. You write,
you know, out of these hacking situations that arise through
phishing emails and those text messages, those pesky text messages
that we always get that say, here is a link,
update your contact details, update your personal details, something's going wrong,
(09:32):
your accounts going wrong, even when it comes to hacking.
And in these situations, that's a key method. So don't
ever open those links in text messages, emails that say
you need to update your personal details. They are generally
a scam, so please don't do that. Be very wary.
You can report jump these days. You can report phishing emails.
(09:56):
Please do that if you can. But if you do
think you're a victim of hacking, notify your financial institution immediately.
So they will put a block on your account and
make sure that no money goes out, because at the
end of the day, Peter, they're hacking your accounts to
get your personal information for malicious purposes, whether that be
selling it to other bodies or parties or whatever it
(10:18):
may be. Or they're trying to access your money. So
the first step is to definitely contact your financial institution
and then change your passwords. So they're not able to
access your accounts. That would be the next thing. And
then we can always launch an incident that's occurred with
report cyber and report cyber, present all the reports to
(10:40):
the police and then they are then investigated. So report
cyber is the place to go for any any hacking,
any online scams. And if we want to do a
further check, we can also run that software, the antivirus scan,
to remove any malware as well.
S1 (10:58):
Okay. And don't be embarrassed by a domain name. You know,
some he has some very reputable, well known people, probably
people who thought they were pretty savvy, technically wise, have
been hacked. So you're certainly not alone. And I guess
it's less than hardly clear. I also believe that, you know,
sometimes actually, you can detect that you've been hacked because
money might go missing in your account.
S2 (11:19):
Absolutely. That's a red hot warning sign. If you say
money that's going out of your account and you definitely
did not spend it, there has been something that's gone
wrong and that could be a hacking incident. But, Peter,
I have seen people close to me that I would
say are very you know, they're up with technology, they're
very savvy and they've been scammed and they've been hacked
(11:39):
by these, you know, methods that are used. And after
the fact, everyone's upset and they feel embarrassed, like you said.
But they are just they're professionals. These people are professionals
at hacking. So they really do use methods that trick people. Absolutely,
they do.
S1 (11:57):
You've covered a lot. There is anything that you'd like
to wrap up with. A lot of good information there,
and I think we can all identify with it very
readily and very easily. Anything else before we wrap up?
S2 (12:08):
I think the key message that I want to get
across is just the links in the emails and the
text messages that get sent out all the time. It's
just we must delete those messages and do not click
on the links, because sometimes when we even click on
websites or free downloads or different website access, they can
actually gain access to our devices through that. So we
(12:31):
really need to be careful when it comes to clicking
on any links from a stranger or I mean, they
do impose bodies in organisations as well, but just stay
away from those links.
S1 (12:42):
Terrific. Well, it's a very serious topic, but also very
timely given the end of 2022, if people want to
find out more. If you've got information up on your
Crime Stoppers Victoria website.
S2 (12:53):
We do and that is Crimestoppers week dot com today.
We've got more information there. There is a vast amount
of information on the Internet these days when it comes
to tips and tricks to help protect you. I've been
watching tutorials recently on changing the settings on my phone
to make sure that I can't be tracked and spammed.
And have you ever had a situation, Peter, where you
(13:15):
might be talking about something and then you get served
an ad on your site locally?
S1 (13:19):
Yes. Or you're searching for something and all of a
sudden that ad comes up.
S2 (13:22):
Absolutely. So there's ways of turning those things off in
our settings. So we've got settings on our phone that
are all set to a default setting which allows everything
to be tracked. It's actually ways that we can turn
them off. And there's lots of tutorials that are out
there now that can help us with that.
S1 (13:39):
Great information for new listeners. So welcome. Clare joins us
once every two months on focal point and once every
two months on this link. So was a wonderful addition
to the radio station last year I'm sure to continue
through 2023. Thank you for joining us and we'll catch
up next month.
S2 (13:56):
Thank you, Peter. Thank you so much.
S1 (13:58):
Played down to us there from Crime Victoria. And you
can always also give them a call if you prefer,
the telephone, one 800 333, 000. And as always, we'll
put that information up on our Facebook page.
One of our regular guests last year and made a
wonderful impression was Claire Dundas from Crime Stoppers Victoria. And
great to welcome Claire back for 2023. Claire Happy New
Year and thanks for coming on board again.
S2 (00:16):
Hi Peter, It's great to be back with you and
Happy New Year to you too.
S1 (00:20):
Now we're happy, hopefully for everyone, but you got some
warnings in very topical and timely regarding hackings.
S2 (00:27):
I do. Hacking was a timely topic in 2022 with
some very high profile incidents, but hacking is still around
in 2023 and we need to be aware. We need
to know a few tips and tricks on ways that
we can protect ourselves. And just a little bit more
about hacking. I think everyone could do with a bit
of an update.
S1 (00:48):
Okay. Got to define what is hacking. I mean, we've
all heard about it on the news, etc.. Optus and
Medibank kind of caught the brunt of it. But what
is hacking, particularly if we're talking about individuals or smaller identities,
if you like?
S2 (01:00):
Yeah, at the most simplistic level. Hacking occurs when a
scanner gains access to your personal information via devices such
as your computer, mobile or network. So we're talking very
simply about a scammer getting access to your computer, let's say,
or your mobile phone and being able to access all
of your data and personal information.
S1 (01:22):
How can they do that, though? I've got my phone
in my hand here. How can they possibly get hold
of it?
S2 (01:26):
Well, there's a few ways they can do that. But
just to kind of give you the size of the
problem here, Peter, Australians lost close to $3 million last
year to hacking scandal. So we're not talking about a
small amount of money here. We're talking about a sizeable problem.
S1 (01:40):
So how do they do it? How do how do
I how do they get me or how do I
get hacked?
S2 (01:44):
So there's many different ways that they can do it,
but I'll go through some of the most common methods used.
And the two terms that I'll bring up with you
are malware and ransomware. Have you heard of them before?
I've heard of them. So let me tell you what
they are. Malware is where scan is. Trick you into
installing software that gives them access to your computer and
all your files. And you might think, Oh no, that
(02:06):
would never happen to me. But they've got very tricky
ways of doing it. And ransomware is where a scammer
demands payment to unlock your computer or files. And both
of these situations can cause a heap of stress. But
the way that they do it is very tricky. So
it could be initiated by a phone call to say
that know something's been alerted that there's something wrong, whether
(02:28):
it be an account of yours or your anti-virus protection
software is out of date or there's so many different ways.
And what they'll do is, in most cases, is offer
to fix a problem. And by that, they need access
to your computer. And then once you've given them access,
you give them access to everything, and it comes with
a host of problems. So we really need to be
(02:52):
careful when it comes to giving access to anyone, to
any of our devices or any of our accounts. But
they do have very, very tricky ways of doing it.
So I guess the other sort of piece of advice
is to just be wary. If anyone's asking you to
do anything, you just need to make sure that you
think that they're a credible source.
S1 (03:11):
What about things like links in emails or text messages
that you wanted?
S2 (03:16):
That is a huge problem too. So we kind of
class that all together is exploiting security weaknesses, and that's
a really commonly used method as well. And it's not
really as technical as the malware in the ransomware. It's
where they just stake out a weakness. And that could
be an out of date antivirus software. So they're able
to get into your devices easily, get passwords or reuse passwords.
(03:40):
And then another really common one is the unsecured Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth connection. So if you're out and you've connected
to the free public Wi-Fi, that's a great chance for
scammers to get in and get into your devices there. So, okay,
regardless of the why they're getting in, they just once
they're in, they can they've got access to everything.
S1 (04:01):
Well, a lot of cafes, public libraries, a lot of
organisations or situations like that do have free public Wi-Fi.
So what sort of things should you not do when
you've got access to those? If you're, you know, either
with someone or on your own maybe having a coffee
and you're, you know, fiddling around on the Internet.
S2 (04:21):
So you can by all means use public Wi-Fi and
the free Wi-Fi that you stay around, but don't be
using any of or accessing any sensitive information when you're
on those. So don't access your bank accounts. Don't access
any of your personal details when you are logged into
those secure wi fi connected sorry unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Your
(04:43):
y fi at home is a secured Wi-Fi connection when
you're out and about that's unsecured. And we don't want
you to be dealing with any of your sensitive information.
S1 (04:52):
One of the things I did learn from you last
year in particular was passwords either important to be there,
need to change them and also make sure you're not
using password as your password.
S2 (05:03):
Absolutely. We. They'd go into that and password high grade.
It comes up all the time. We've heard it so
many times, you know. Use really complicated passwords. Make sure
that it's really long. And it's a combination of numbers and,
you know, symbols and and letters and all these sort
of things. But it actually is crazy to think how
(05:24):
important that is because these scammers are professional at guessing passwords.
They do it all the time. They have software that
they can put in to try and guess your password
as well. So it just I don't even have to
think of it. So the more complicated we can make
it and in the simple things, it's not using the
same password for different accounts and don't reuse all passwords.
These things can really help protect us.
S1 (05:45):
What about knowing that we've been hacked? If we have suspicions,
are there some telltale signs? Are there things that we
or indeed, you know, might be someone we know or love,
maybe someone we're caring for, someone that we're kind of
helping out as far as their Internet stuff goes? Are
there things that we should be on guard about as
far as maybe telltale signs?
S2 (06:06):
Absolutely. And one of them that stuck out to me
that I thought, oh, gosh, I wouldn't normally think of
that is if your computer is running slow is a
warning sign. So your computer running slow and you might
not notice, but there could be a new icon, pop
pop up on your screen. And that means that the
hacker has gotten in and they've downloaded some software to
(06:26):
be able to access your personal information there. So if
your computer's running slow for no reason at all and
you've got all your software in check and things, that
could be a warning sign for you. So it's something
to definitely take note of. Another one? Yeah. Files that
have been removed or deleted on your computer. So you
haven't done it, but for some reason you can't locate
(06:47):
a file or it's been deleted. That's another telltale sign
that you could have been hacked.
S1 (06:53):
So basically what you're saying is, if those instances show up,
someone's actually got into your computer, you know, they haven't
actually physically opened up your computer typing your password and
got in. But remotely that that somehow got in.
S2 (07:05):
It could be definitely a sign to tell you that
they have. So these are some of the things that
we should be looking out for. Another one is you're
an able to log in to your device, personal account
or online account. So if you're being shot at and
you know that you're using the right password, you've logged
in yesterday and all of a sudden you can't log
in the next day. It could be the case where
(07:28):
a hacker has gotten in and then they've changed your
password on you so you no longer have access. So
this would be another warning sign.
S1 (07:35):
You've touched on the password thing, and that's very, very
good message. What about as far as keeping things up
to date, as far as your software guys or your
anti-spyware guys? And how important is that?
S2 (07:47):
Oh, it is so important. The other one just to
watch out for is pop up boxes that might appear
on your screen. So you're just using your laptop, as
you always would, but a pop up box comes onto
your screen asking you to actually suggesting that you have
a problem and that they can fix the problem. That
is definitely a warning sign and do not click on it.
(08:08):
But as you just mentioned, keeping your computer software up
to date is so important and make sure that you're
doing regular updates and conducting scans where they can scan
through your computer to make sure that there's no malware
or ransomware on there. The technology is that could take days.
But the other tip on that one is to make
sure that you're buying your software from a source in
(08:30):
the first place. You know, I scan is that you
can put software out there that they say is antivirus software,
but it's actually giving them the access to your computer.
So make sure you buy it from a reputable source. Okay.
S1 (08:42):
Well, I think we probably kind of all know the
therapy for once and maybe also to speak to friends
or family that might be using stuff that they recommend
or they think is working well for them. That might
be another kind of checklist to tick off as far
as reputable work goes. Clearly, if someone is hacked and
I know, you know, I probably people would be embarrassed
(09:02):
about sort of admitting to the fact what what should
we do? I mean, there's no point in doing nothing,
is there? Because the next person might get tagged as well.
S2 (09:10):
Absolutely not. There are a few steps that we can
definitely take and it can help the next person. You write,
you know, out of these hacking situations that arise through
phishing emails and those text messages, those pesky text messages
that we always get that say, here is a link,
update your contact details, update your personal details, something's going wrong,
(09:32):
your accounts going wrong, even when it comes to hacking.
And in these situations, that's a key method. So don't
ever open those links in text messages, emails that say
you need to update your personal details. They are generally
a scam, so please don't do that. Be very wary.
You can report jump these days. You can report phishing emails.
(09:56):
Please do that if you can. But if you do
think you're a victim of hacking, notify your financial institution immediately.
So they will put a block on your account and
make sure that no money goes out, because at the
end of the day, Peter, they're hacking your accounts to
get your personal information for malicious purposes, whether that be
selling it to other bodies or parties or whatever it
(10:18):
may be. Or they're trying to access your money. So
the first step is to definitely contact your financial institution
and then change your passwords. So they're not able to
access your accounts. That would be the next thing. And
then we can always launch an incident that's occurred with
report cyber and report cyber, present all the reports to
(10:40):
the police and then they are then investigated. So report
cyber is the place to go for any any hacking,
any online scams. And if we want to do a
further check, we can also run that software, the antivirus scan,
to remove any malware as well.
S1 (10:58):
Okay. And don't be embarrassed by a domain name. You know,
some he has some very reputable, well known people, probably
people who thought they were pretty savvy, technically wise, have
been hacked. So you're certainly not alone. And I guess
it's less than hardly clear. I also believe that, you know,
sometimes actually, you can detect that you've been hacked because
money might go missing in your account.
S2 (11:19):
Absolutely. That's a red hot warning sign. If you say
money that's going out of your account and you definitely
did not spend it, there has been something that's gone
wrong and that could be a hacking incident. But, Peter,
I have seen people close to me that I would
say are very you know, they're up with technology, they're
very savvy and they've been scammed and they've been hacked
(11:39):
by these, you know, methods that are used. And after
the fact, everyone's upset and they feel embarrassed, like you said.
But they are just they're professionals. These people are professionals
at hacking. So they really do use methods that trick people. Absolutely,
they do.
S1 (11:57):
You've covered a lot. There is anything that you'd like
to wrap up with. A lot of good information there,
and I think we can all identify with it very
readily and very easily. Anything else before we wrap up?
S2 (12:08):
I think the key message that I want to get
across is just the links in the emails and the
text messages that get sent out all the time. It's
just we must delete those messages and do not click
on the links, because sometimes when we even click on
websites or free downloads or different website access, they can
actually gain access to our devices through that. So we
(12:31):
really need to be careful when it comes to clicking
on any links from a stranger or I mean, they
do impose bodies in organisations as well, but just stay
away from those links.
S1 (12:42):
Terrific. Well, it's a very serious topic, but also very
timely given the end of 2022, if people want to
find out more. If you've got information up on your
Crime Stoppers Victoria website.
S2 (12:53):
We do and that is Crimestoppers week dot com today.
We've got more information there. There is a vast amount
of information on the Internet these days when it comes
to tips and tricks to help protect you. I've been
watching tutorials recently on changing the settings on my phone
to make sure that I can't be tracked and spammed.
And have you ever had a situation, Peter, where you
(13:15):
might be talking about something and then you get served
an ad on your site locally?
S1 (13:19):
Yes. Or you're searching for something and all of a
sudden that ad comes up.
S2 (13:22):
Absolutely. So there's ways of turning those things off in
our settings. So we've got settings on our phone that
are all set to a default setting which allows everything
to be tracked. It's actually ways that we can turn
them off. And there's lots of tutorials that are out
there now that can help us with that.
S1 (13:39):
Great information for new listeners. So welcome. Clare joins us
once every two months on focal point and once every
two months on this link. So was a wonderful addition
to the radio station last year I'm sure to continue
through 2023. Thank you for joining us and we'll catch
up next month.
S2 (13:56):
Thank you, Peter. Thank you so much.
S1 (13:58):
Played down to us there from Crime Victoria. And you
can always also give them a call if you prefer,
the telephone, one 800 333, 000. And as always, we'll
put that information up on our Facebook page.
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