Gunmen suspected to be sea pirates have hijacked a passenger boat along the waterways of Namasibi, New Calabar Rivers, Degema Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Security and Situational Awareness, Open Source Intelligence, Cybersafety and Cybersecurity, Threat Alerts, Geopolitical Risks, etc. Vanguard Of A Countering Violent Extremism Advocacy: "Nigerians Unite Against Insecurity, Terrorism and Insurgency". For Articles, Press Releases, Adverts etc, Email: donnuait(a)yahoo.com, Twitter: @DonOkereke.
Thursday 4 June 2020
Growing Concerns Over Events in Mozambique
One
wouldn’t notice this situation if the only source of information is from
primarily Western News outlets, But the Insurgency taking place in the Cabo
Delgado province in Mozambique is potentially taking a new twist.
2 Chinese Expatriates Kidnapped In Ebonyi, Southeast Nigeria
The Police Command in Ebonyi state, Southeast Nigeria has confirmed the abduction of two Chinese expatriates working in a mining site in Ihietutu, Ishiagu in Ivo local government area of Ebonyi by unknown gunmen.
Sunday 26 April 2020
Covid-19 And Internet Risks: The Basics Of Cybersmartness And Cybersecurity
Webinar
Powered By: Better Civic
International Foundation
Theme:
Covid-19 And Internet Risks: The Basics Of Cybersmartness And Cybersecurity
Presented
By:
Don
Okereke
Date:
18th April 2020; Time: 19H30 – 21H00
Scope:
1.
Covid-19 and its implications for children online
2.
Types of online risks for children during covid-19
lockdown
3.
Tell-tale signs of a child being cyberbullied or targeted
4.
How To Recognize Phishing/Vishing emails/messages
5.
How to avoid falling prey to covid-19 scams, ransomware
6.
General recommended actions to mitigate online risks for
children during the covid-19 lockdown
7.
Cyber safety Tips for teens, children
8.
COVID-19 and the menace of fake news, disinformation
9.
Beware of Fake News/Misinformation: How to
avoid misinformation about the coronavirus:
10.
Parenting tips for children’s safe online experience
Good evening ladies and
gentlemen,
All protocols observed. I am
here to create awareness on cybersecurity risks associated with the COVID-19
pandemic and how we can stay safe from cybercriminals.
Preamble:
We are currently battling with three things at the same time: a pandemic
(COVID-19), an infodemic and a hunger virus (HUVID-20) at the same time. We can
define a pandemic in this context, as a disease prevalent over a whole country
or the world. On the other hand, an infodemic means 'excessive amount of
information concerning a problem such that the solution is made more
difficult'. It follows that false information,
misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories are spreading faster
than the COVID-19 itself. This explains why the World Health Organization (WHO)
warns against the consequences of a deadly infodemic. Multiple
reports point to a trend in cybercriminals increasingly creating and deploying
thousands of coronavirus-related websites, phishing emails and messages daily
aimed at taking advantage of people.
What is COVID-19?
Without wasting much time, COVID-19
is defined as an infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered
coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began
in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Covid-19 and its
implications for children online
Today, April 18, is Day 19
of the stay-at-home order declared by the Federal government in parts of the
country which is aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19. The implication of
this is that people are expected and will increasingly stay at home, practice
physical or social distancing. Markets, schools, workplaces (except those
rendering essential services) have been shut down in the past 19 days. Parents,
children now stay at home. It’s boring staying indoors day in, day out. To kill
boredom, many people (children inclusive) rely on their devices, gadgets to
stay connected with friends on social media and to be abreast of events,
information. I can attest that many people spend a great deal on data these
days as a result of the lockdown.
The COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown
implies more and more school children embracing online learning technologies,
platforms. While online learning, remote working or teleworking are innovative
and have their advantages, not all adults and children have the requisite
knowledge, skills and resources to navigate the internet and keep themselves
safe. Few days ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pointed out
that online predators put millions of children at risk during COVID-19 pandemic
lockdown. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UNICEF reckons that more
than 1.5 billion children and young people have been affected by school
closures worldwide. Many are online now taking classes and socializing. Under
the shadow of COVID-19, the lives of millions of children have temporarily
shrunk to just their homes and their screens”. Spending more time on virtual
platforms can leave children vulnerable to online sexual exploitation as
predators capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were complaints recently
in some countries when scores of very young children were bombarded with
X-rated pornography after their school’s Zoom learning session was hijacked by
hackers. The school’s principal quickly realized what was happening, and
swiftly shut down the application. This trend is called ‘’zoombombing’’ or
weaponization of zoom, a video conference platform. It follows that Zoom had/have
security vulnerabilities and Zoom raiders as they are called, often employ
shocking imagery, racial epithets, profanity and in some cases, pornography to
derail video conferences.
Please note that apart from
Zoom, other video-conferencing Applications with capabilities for online
meetings, webinars and trainings include: Microsoft Teams, Skype, GoToMeeting,
Join.me, Cisco Webex, BlueJeans, Google Hangouts Meet, RingCentral, Zoho Meeting,
Cyberlink U Meeting, Lifesize and FreeConference. Most of them have free
versions that can be downloaded via play store.
Types of online
risks for children during covid-19 lockdown
The internet can be an
unchartered territory and a dangerous environment for everyone. Children and
teens are particularly vulnerable to online hazards – security vulnerabilities,
cyber predators, cyber-crimes et al. which can have severe, costly, even
tragic, consequences. For instance, children may inadvertently expose their
families to some of these cyber threats by accidentally downloading a malware or
ransomware that could give cyber criminals access to their parents' bank
account and other sensitive information.
Some of the online risks
that children could encounter as they are increasingly glued to the internet due
to the COVID-19 lockdown include:
1.
Cyberbullying - A 2018 survey of children’s
online behavior found that approximately 60% of children who use social media
have witnessed some form of bullying, and that, for various reasons, most
children ignored the behavior altogether. According to enough.org, as of
February 2018, nearly half (47%) of all young people had been the victims of
cyberbullying.
Tell-tale signs of
a child being cyberbullied or targeted by an online predator include:
a.
Appears nervous when receiving a text or an email
b.
Seems uneasy about going to school or pretends to be ill.
c.
Unwillingness to share information about his/her online activity
d.
Unexplained anger or depression, especially after going
online.
e.
Abruptly shutting off or walking away from the computer,
mobile device mid-use.
f.
Withdrawing from friends and family in real life.
g.
Trouble sleeping at night.
h.
Unexplained weight loss/gain and suicidal
thoughts/attempts.
i.
Spending long hours online, especially at night
j.
Phone calls from people you don't know
k.
Receiving unsolicited gifts
l.
When the child suddenly turns off the computer when you
walk into the room
m.
Withdrawal from family life and reluctance to discuss
online activities
2.
Posting Private Information - There are awkward moments
when children mistakenly post personally identifiable information (PII) –
residential addresses, pictures, family vacation plans, the school they attend
etc. online or on social media.
3.
Cyber Predators (pedophiles) - These days sexual
predators, pedophiles increasingly stalk children on the internet/social media,
taking advantage of their innocence, lack of adult supervision and abusing
their trust. This can culminate in children being lured into dangerous personal
encounters.
4.
Posts that Come Back to Haunt a Child Later in Life - As they say, the internet
does not forget. Unlike the saying that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las
Vegas, it is a different scenario with our transactions online. Things that
happen online, stay online, possibly forever. Anything an individual or child
puts online have a way of sticking around. A party picture, Snapchat message or
social media post could cause problems ten years down the road when you
interview for a new job or run for a political office. A classic example is the
current Canadian PM whose childhood ‘Arabian Nights’ themed party makeup almost
cost him reelection.
Similarly,
according to a 2018 Career Builder survey, 70 percent of employers use social
media to screen candidates during the hiring process. 43 percent use it to
check on current employees.
5.
Falling for social engineering, Scams - Social engineering in the
context of cyber security, is the use of deception to manipulate individuals
into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for
fraudulent purposes. Children or teens may fall victim to online scams that
offer things they value, such as free access to online games or special
features. Cyber criminals can use websites popular with children to identify
potential victims, and then promise prizes in return for what they want—like
parents' credit card information.
6.
Accidentally Downloading Malware or ransomware - A malware is a computer
software that is installed without the knowledge of permission of the victim
and performs harmful actions on the computer. Similarly, *ransomware* is a
malicious software designed to block access to a computer or mobile device
until money (ransom) is paid. Cyber criminals often trick people into
downloading malware or ransomware that has the capability to steal personal
information from a computer or hijacking it and subsequently demanding a
ransom. Just recently, cybercriminals deployed a COVID-19 ransomware with a
view to tricking unsuspecting members to click on the link to receive
up-to-date information about the pandemic.
7.
Phishing - Refers to criminal activity that attempts to
fraudulently obtain sensitive information from someone. There are several ways
a fraudster can try to obtain sensitive information such as your date of birth,
driver's license, credit/debit card information, or bank account information,
often luring you with a sense of urgency. Sometimes a fraudster will first send
you a courteous email (more like a bait) to lure you into a conversation and
then follow up with a phishing email. It is also possible for the fraudster to
send just one phishing email that will direct you to a website requesting you
to enter your personal information such as User ID and Password.
8.
Pharming – Refers to a type of scam where a fraudster installs
malicious code on a personal device or server. This code then redirects any
clicks you make on a website to another fraudulent Website without your consent
or knowledge. Be especially careful when entering financial information on a
website. Look for the ‘s’ in https and the key or lock symbol at the bottom of
the browser. If the website looks different than when you last visited, be
suspicious and don’t click unless you are certain the site is secure.
9.
Vishing - Fraudsters also use the phone (SMS) to solicit your
personal information. This telephone version of phishing is sometimes called
vishing. Vishing relies on *social engineering* techniques to trick you into
providing personal or sensitive information.
10.
Smishing uses cell phone text, usually *bulk SMS messages* to lure
a victim. Often the text will contain an URL or phone number. Just like
phishing, the smishing message usually asks for your immediate attention. Desist
from responding to smishing messages.
How To Recognize
Phishing/Vishing emails/messages:
1.
Do you know the sender of the email? If yes, continue to be cautious before
clicking a link. If no, do not click any links. Mind you that cybercriminal can
clone a website.
2.
Have you checked the link especially now that websites
can be clones and links can be shortened using url shorteners? Hover your Mouse
over the link and check the URL. Does it look legitimate or does it look like
it will take you to a different website? For instance, if they want to clone
the website/email address of the World Health Organization, they can make it
look like www.who.com or info@who.com. Meanwhile the WHO’s authentic email address could be: info@who.org. basically, the difference is in the suffix (.com rather than .org). Only
the savvy or discerning would know.
3.
Does the email or SMS contain grammatical errors? If so, it
is a red flag. Be suspicious!
4.
If the email comes with attachment(s), do not click on
the attachment. Contact the sender to verify its contents.
5.
Does the email request personal information? If yes, it is another red flag, do not reply.
6.
If you have a relationship with the company/person, are
they addressing you by name?
7.
If you receive an email or phone call from a purported
organization (say XYZ) requesting you call them and you suspect it might be a
fraudulent request, look up the organization’s customer service number and call
that number rather than the number provided in the solicitation email or phone
call.
How To Avoid
Falling Prey To COVID-19 Scams, Ransomware:
1.
Avoid clicking on random links.
2. Avoid all
these awoof data links, I am not aware of any Telecoms operator sharing free data
at the moment.
3. The
Federal government is not sharing money yet, when they start (if they do), you
will know.
4. Stop
forwarding messages without proper verification, you don't
work in a clearing and forwarding company.
5. Beware of
FOC (Free of charge). Your bank is not sharing free money. There is no free money, even in Freetown, nothing is free.
6.
Don’t divulge sensitive personal information regarding your
banking or card details. There are fraudulent emails, SMS making the round,
where customers have been asked to provide their card details or BVN for
disbursement of COVID-19 palliative funds ranging between N30,000 and N70,000
into their bank account upon validation of their bank details online.
General
recommended actions to mitigate online risks for children during the covid-19
lockdown
1.
Given that it is what a parent knows that s/he would
teach his/her ward, parents will do well to be up to speed with information
technology and be social media savvy. We live in the information technology
age; it is not out of place to see children who are more tech savvy than their
parents or teachers.
2.
Parents should frequently have heart-to-heart conversation
with their wards about online safety, computer use, inherent dangers and
long-term effects of inappropriate conduct, including posting pictures online.
3.
A good rule of thumb is to not allow internet use when a
child is home alone without proper supervision. Though not perfect, installing
a search engine filtering software/tool or parental controls, would help.
4.
Keep your computer in an open area. If your computer is
in a home office, make a rule that doors are always left open when online.
5.
Do not allow internet use after you’ve gone to bed at
night no matter how good your computer security software is or how confident
you are in kids search engines.
6.
Consider installing parental control software to give you
completed control over how kids access the internet.
7.
Do not allow file sharing programs to be installed on
your computer. Only use safe and secure music download programs from trusted
sources on the internet.
8.
Be wary of allowing under aged children to use social
media - Many social networks require users to be at least 13 years of age, but
some allow children to sign up with their parent’s permission. If your ward has
social media accounts, check their privacy settings. The default settings may
expose more information than you’d like. Change settings to the highest level
of privacy. Teach your kids not to accept friend requests from people they —
and you — don’t know. Some friend requests come from bots that will spam
friends lists.
9.
Install antivirus software, make sure they are up to date
and only download Apps from credible sources such as Playstore.
Cyber safety Tips for
teens, children
1.
Don’t post your date of birth, offensive comments, passwords,
address, personal phone number, inappropriate pictures, the name of your school
or any information about your family online or on social media platforms. Talk
to your parents first about pictures you want to post online, whether they be
of yourself or your friends and family members.
2.
Don’t talk to strangers on the Internet
3.
Never to agree to meet someone that you have met online.
If you do not know the person in ‘real life’, tell your parents about anyone
this is asking to meet you.
4.
Don’t fill in a profile that asks for your name and
address
5.
Don’t visit a chat room without an adult’s / parent’s
permission
6.
Don’t stay online if you see something you think your
parents won’t like
7.
Do not download or install anything on your computer/device
without your parents’ permission
8.
If you have any questions about something you read, ask
your parent or guardian
9.
If you are talking to someone online and they make you
uncomfortable, remember you don’t have to talk back to them.
10.
Do not respond to messages you receive that are mean or
speaking meanly about others. Tell your parents about these messages.
11.
Always be kind of others online. Do not do anything that
may hurt others including joining in conversations discussing other people’s
problems.
12.
Be careful about discussing details about your own
personal problems with your friends online. It is better to speak to them in
person. Tell your parents or teacher if you are struggling with something.
13.
Agree to computer rules set up by your parents, teachers
or guardians. With freedom and trust comes the expectation that you will act
responsibly.
How to avoid
misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic:
a. Bank on information from reliable resources – the World Health
Organization (WHO), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other
reliable agencies, platforms.
b. More often than not, print news tends to be more accurate than
video or television because print reporters tend to fact check the news and
provide links to referenced items.
c. If a claim is made regarding coronavirus pandemic, do some online
research.
d. Be wary of claims about cures and the origin of the virus.
e. Be a detective before sharing information with others on social
media. Do a quick Google search at least, and spend some time making sure what
you’re reading is accurate.
f.
If a story sounds fake, don’t
click on it or engage with it. If you click on it, it’ll enhance its search
algorithms and promote it even more.
Feel free to read
my extensive essay on this pervasive trend titled – ‘’Cybersecurity Awareness: HowCybercriminals weaponize COVID-19 To Perpetrate Scam’’.
Thanks for your time. Stay
safe!
Respectfully,
© Don Okereke
April 18, 2020
References:
iii.
content/en-us/images/repository/isc/Twitter-Safety-For-Kids.jpg
vii.
https://www.theafricareport.com/24698/top-10-coronavirus-fake-news-items/amp/
Brief Chronicle, Anthropology of Aku Indigenous Community And The Ihube-Uturu Nexus
My dear friend, Chiemeka,
Brief Chronicle, Anthropology of
Aku Indigenous Community And The Ihube-Uturu Nexus
I chuckled after reading your
preposterous insinuation that "Aku is the wealth of Ihube" and that
is why you folks refer to Aku Community as Aku-Ihube. I must confess that I
struggled to hold my peace and let this old-hat affront slide but chose to
disabuse your mind and enlighten folks out there who hitherto subscribed to the
hogwash your ilks bandy about. I opted to respond because posterity will not
forgive me if I fail to challenge and neutralize the tyranny of the single
story that you guys seem to have entrenched over the years. As is always the
case, it is the honcho who won a battle that tells his dramatized exploits,
narratives against his opponent. Ndị Igbo si na Arụsị nyewe oké nsogbu, agwa ya
osisi eji pịa ya (when a deity sets out to misbehave, he will be reminded of
the wood used in carving it).
I implore you and your folks not
to take this conversation personal or be emotional about it but let us see it
as an opportunity to deepen intellectual discourse and a journey to discover
one’s roots. It is necessary that we make the conversation clean; no insults!
Of course, you and I know that nobody or group have a monopoly on such
tendencies.
Please mull over the following
historical cum anthropological posers and fork out cogent answers:
1. Ever come across the phrase – Ihuwe
or Ihuo as some of you call it? Is there a difference between Ihuwe/Ihuo and Ihube?
Are they one of the same, possibly one originated from the other?
2. If they are one of the same,
at what point did Ihuwe morph into or was anglicized Ihube, by who and why?
3. If you are still scrambling to
reconcile yourself with the aforesaid posers, I elect to give you a clue... Are
you familiar with the saying, "Ihuwe
hukidere mba'' which uninformed Ihube folks tritely and anachronistically
boast about? To help you, a loose translation of this saying suffices: someone
bestowed to a neighbourhood who became tyrannical, browbeats other
village-groups' (paraphrasing late Prof. Adiele Afigbo of blessed memory).
Kindly refer to late Professor Adiele Afigbo’s 1981 Ahiajoku lecture
presentation titled: ‘’The Age
of Innocence: The Igbo and their Neighbours in pre-Colonial Times’’.
4. Does it not beggar belief that
a mortal or a town that was bestowed (e huwere ehiwe in Igbo parlance) now
claim to have sired the person that made him?
5. Are you aware of any
affiliation (if any) between Ihuwe and an Uturu community called *Onuaku* and a
phylogenetic relation between Aku and the same Onuaku? Explains why Aku and
Onuaku folks of yore are admonished not to shed the blood of or hurt one
another. Oral history and anthropological evidence suffice that Aku and Onuaku
folks were admonished not to inter-marry yesteryears because of the averred
affinity, filial relationship between the two brothers (communities).
Apparently, Christianity and so-called civilization have bastardized this
unwritten ethos. If you do your research and connect the dots, it will dawn on
you that Aku is plausibly aboriginal; tenably predates and played a role
in bestowing Ihuwe, in accord with Onuaku (Uturu) of course. Do your digging,
if you fail, I will avail you the inside information.
6. Are you also aware of a
community in Isuochi called Umuaku which Aku people reportedly share some
kindredship with? Is Ihuwe the ‘founding father’ of Umuaku in Isuochi?
There are also towns in Nsukka, Enugu State and Aguata (Anambra state), called
Aku. In the same vein, are you also insinuating that these towns are the
"wealth" of Ihuwe?
7. Are you in the know of a
certain deity in Uturu called Ihuku and a wooden Ikoro (gong) reportedly buried
at Eke-Ukwu Ihuwe in the 19th century and the symbolism of the annual Ikoro
ritual then which can only be performed by the aboriginal owners of the land?
Ask why Ihuwe was/is unfit to perform this once symbolic, requisite ritual.
8. Do you agree with me that many
of the people who now populate, claim to be from Ihuwe are recent
"settlers" (some of Aro extraction etc.), including renowned
academics, prominent politicians, business moguls et al whose ancestry we know
till date? This is thanks to Ihuwe’s confluence-like placement and interspersed
with ancient trading routes. Contrasted with suburban Aku sandwiched in-between
communities, this trading/access road advantage contributed to the expansion,
progress of Ihuwe Town.
Brings me to an infamous usurper;
the reign of terror of a fugitive from Ihuwe (Akpugo to be specific), named
Ikenwaji who settled in Aku and emerged a warrant chief by sleight of hand. He
was atrocious, undermined Aku and didn't end well... Geezer forbade
Aku people from attending school beyond Standard 3 then because his son died
mysteriously at standard six. Explains why Aku folks were relegated
educationally during his reign of terror while Ihuwe folks surged on. As a
matter of fact, no Aku person attended secondary school between 1900 and 1934
courtesy of this Ihuwe-born warrant chief Ikenwaji.
A place called *Odoachara* in Aku
(towards Nneato) was the sub-station of the colonial administration during the
early 1900 and was primed to be the administrative Headquarters of the
colonialists then but something happened. We understand despotic Ikenwaji
employed his horrendous occultic powers in chasing away colonial administrative
foothold from Aku because of his personal aggrandizement - he feared the
presence of colonialists will whittle down his influence. It is established
that cases involving neighbouring communities then were adjudged in a Native
Court situated in Aku and Warrant Chiefs appointed in Aku. For instance,
the Warrant Chief title which Igwe G.I Osondu inherited was conferred to his
grandfather's agent in Aku in about 1910. Tells you how strategic and
influential Aku was then.
Of a truth, Aku and Ihuwe were
bandied under the same district, similar to sharing an Autonomous community or
a colonial administrative district decades ago. Prior to now, Okigwe had the
following administrative districts: Otanzu (made up of Amaeze-Ogii,
Umuawa-Ogii, and Umualumoke), Otanchara (made up of Alaike-Ogwaku,
Alaocha-Ogwaku etc.), Amuro (made up of Aro-Amuro etc.), Umulolo (made up of
Agbobu, Amasu, Aro-Umulolo) and Ihuwe (Akpugo, Ogube etc.) and Aku was appended
to this district strictly for administrative exigency. That we have Aro-Umulolo
and Aro-Amuro doesn’t in anyway suggest that Umulolo or Amuro fathered Aro
which is attached to them. We understand that Aro-Umulolo or Arondizuogu
(Izuogu na Iheme) in Okigwe LGA is a medley of straggling communities located
in a swathe of land obtained through shrewdness, voodoo, aggression by a
famous, charismatic slave merchandiser known as - Mazi Izuogu Mgbokpo
(originally from Arochukwu) and Chief Iheme (Izuogu's chief servant) in the
mid-18th century, from Umualaoma townsfolk, the aboriginal
inhabitants. This is a story for another day. Similarly, the hyphen in
Isukwuato-Okigwe simply implies that Isukwuato shared a local government/administrative
centre with the latter. I elected to cite these illustrations to let you
know the intricate relationships between communities amalgamated into an
administrative district and to buttress the fact that, that a community was under
an administrative district, does not necessary confer progeny or transcendency.
We are not unmindful of the fact
that the ‘’Aku-Ihube’’ construct is more of a jibe - *njakiri* borne out of
misplaced superiority complex. *njakiri*. It is not surprising that Ihuwe folks
also claim to beget or be superior to Ubaha. Another claim which smacks of
chesty disposition. I leave it to Ubaha folks to untangle themselves. By the
way, is it Ubaha or Ubahu?
Conclusively, I submit that
there's no iota of historical or anthropological evidence suggesting Aku was
Ihuwe’s ‘’wealth’’ as you ignorantly posited. Do your research, consult a
knowledgeable, honest, say a 95 year-old, full-fledged Ihuwe man (not the
ubiquitous settlers), gifted with retentive memory, to validate your findings
and reconcile you with the relationship between Ihuwe/Uturu/Aku. I am a sucker
for superior argument. I pledge to gladly accede if you prove your claim with
irrefutable, verifiable, historical and anthropological evidence.
Nwanne, rapu okwu. Anyị ma ndị bụ
ndị. Next time, choose a naive audience; tell your tale to the Marines.
Respectfully,
© Don Ifeanyichukwu Okereke.
Aku, Okigwe LGA.
24/01/2020
Please Note: This
essay is a rejoinder to a school mate who ignorantly and condescendingly referred to Aku
community as a subject or appendage of Ihuwe. I used Ihube and Ihuwe interchangeably because the former is a corruption of the latter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)