On digital defense: How to keep bad actors at bay

Kids on social media has always been a divisive conversation.

While it can be a fun way for younger generations to entertain themselves, connect with friends and lean into their creative side, the question is, how safe is the digital world for naive children?

To combat some of this rhetoric, Instagram unveiled new teen accounts. These accounts’ new safety features would automatically default all new and existing Instagram accounts set up by minors to be private. A private account must approve new followers before they can see and interact with the profile. Also, the app said it would limit potentially sensitive or inappropriate content to these accounts and turn off notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Parents can also manage the amount of time or when their kids are on the app and allow them to see who their child recently direct messaged.

Despite the introduction of new safety features, concerns remain about whether kids should be in the online world in the first place. Social media sites like Instagram likely will need to keep improving these teen accounts to ensure both the teens — and their parents — benefit from the experience.

Your body is transforming the world of security

When Apple first introduced fingerprint recognition to unlock devices in 2013, the world was stunned. Now, more than a decade later, fingerprint and facial recognition have become standard in our day-to-day lives.

In today’s digital world, passwords can easily be hacked, but it is hard to replicate someone’s moving face. Soon, instead of typing in a password when you get to work or scanning your badge in at the office, your face, iris scan, voice or even pulse could grant you access to work.

Additionally, to reduce reliance on passwords, many organizations started to adopt passkeys, which utilize a user’s biometrics instead of a password to verify user identity.

Passkeys have a range of uses — you might have already encountered them when logging into your Amazon or Apple accounts. In the e-commerce world, payment passkeys offer a smooth and secure way for customers to authenticate themselves during transactions.

In August, Mastercard launched its Payment Passkey Service in India. This service allows shoppers to confirm payments with a fingerprint, face scan or PIN. Once authenticated, the payment is completed, enhancing security and simplifying the checkout process.

Additionally, biometric data is not shared with third parties, never leaves your device and is useless to fraudsters and scammers.

As passkey use cases grow, industry leaders are confident in the security of biometric data collection, often citing Apple’s facial recognition as key to normalizing this technology.

Ransomware attacks on the rise

In 2023, more than 6,500 ransomware attacks were launched by 66 different groups,  reaching a recordbreaking 117 countries. Ransomware is a malware designed to block a user from accessing their data until a ransom is paid.

In response to an unprecedented number of attacks during the pandemic, in 2021 the Ransomware Task Force was formed to combat the proliferation of ransomware cyberattacks. The RTF brings together government officials, industry leaders and community members to adapt to the evolving ransomware threat and curb attacks.

Shortly after the RTF was created, it released 48 recommendations that supported four of its key goals to tackle the threat of ransomware.

To create the recommendations, access to accurate and comprehensive data was crucial. Without a clear understanding of the entities, payments, sectors, countries and tactics involved, efforts to mitigate risks were limited.

While attacks increased by 73% from 2022 to 2023, many of these can be attributed to societal factors, including the invasion of Ukraine. Despite the rise, the RTF has found success. As of spring 2023, 24 of its 48 original recommendations had made significant progress.