U-meet: realize the danger of cybercrime

| Esther Hondebrink

As for me, rule of thumb is: 'think before you type, don’t type without thinking.' I think I will go for a beer with some friends later on and talk to them face to face, just to remember what they look like in person. No one else needs to know.

Photo by: Flickr.com | Marsmettin Tallahassee

Are we perhaps afraid to go outdoors? Nowadays we do everything online. Talking to friends face to face? Nah, we’ll send them a Whatsapp. Exiting news to tell people? Let’s Twitter/Facebook and blog it into the world! Need to do some shopping? We order it online! What reason could we probably have to leave our lazy chairs and go outdoors?

But realize that whatever you send through the digital highway might arrive to not only the meant receiver but also some others that are more than willing to share your information with even more others. And that information will get right back to you in a way that you not want it! It will end up as junk mail in your inbox or even worse. You will notice your bank account being plundered.

And unless you want your next message on Facebook or Twitter to be that you have become (one of the many) victim to cybercrime, it is better to be prepared and informed. On the 3rd of October the UT will organize a 'U-meet' conference on cybercrime and how you can protect yourself against the cyber-hackers that keep sending these fake and time consuming emails. Then on the 5th October there is a 'Open House' taking place at the UT campus themed around security and cybercrime and how science can take an important position in this issue.

Stay tuned

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