Cybersecurity expert tips to protect your children and your internet-connected devices

The permissions requested by apps should be monitored once they are downloaded, for example, a photo editing app should not ask you to access your contacts or your location, this is a sign of the possibility of malware

The rapid progress witnessed by new communication technologies has made users sometimes unable to face the many risks and traps that their personal devices connected to the Internet, such as smartphones, children's toys, and voice control and control systems expose them to.

And French white-hat hacker ("ethical hacking") Alex Balan offers 6 tips that can help individuals protect themselves cyber-security on a daily basis.

Avoid cheap products

This cybersecurity expert stresses that the first - and most important - advice he can give users is not to buy cheap security products, because security, he says, "has a cost and not paying for it always puts you at risk."

The best option in this context is to buy connected products (children's phones, phones, smart refrigerators, etc..) from companies known for their trust and quality.

Buying from major manufacturers provides two guarantees. The first is that the reputation of these companies compels them to strive to protect consumers for fear that the opposite will cause the loss of their customers.

The second guarantee is that these big manufacturers have experts who are able to fix some bugs and vulnerabilities very quickly.

Connected devices: This is what to avoid

Alex Ballan built his reputation as a white-hat hacker by demonstrating the vulnerability of connected products, so he believes the simplest way to avoid 99% of risks in virtual space is to "never connect your devices directly to the Internet", with devices that use "media Like transferring data over a secure cloud storage system.

In general, devices connected to the Internet are more vulnerable than many devices, because they offer little or no classic security systems, such as passwords.

The best way to choose the safest product is to rely on the reviews and ratings left by users on “trusted sites” such as Trustpilot and Reddit, while avoiding relying on opinions left directly on the manufacturers’ website that often be incorrect.

Due precautions with online children's games

The cyber expert explains, "As long as children's connected toys meet recognized safety standards, there is no need to take special precautions," noting that manufacturers - such as the Hong Kong company "VTech", which was exposed to the scandal of stealing videos for children - are making An effort to fix security holes is more trustworthy than others. Therefore, the precautions that apply to adult products must be taken here.

According to Balan, children are not of the greatest interest to cybercriminals, because their main interest is money, and because data recovered from children's devices is of limited value to them.

Update your operating system

Although it is annoying, updating your personal devices regularly is absolutely necessary, and you should always make sure that your computers are running the latest version of their operating system, "MacOS" for Apple devices, Windows (Windows) for other computers .

The same also applies to smartphone updates where the name of the latest version can be found in the settings.

Do not download suspicious programs

Balan points out that the best way to bring danger to your personal devices is to invite them yourself, so we must be very vigilant when installing any new software that may be carrying viruses.

He stresses that "you shouldn't install anything from anyone", and you should take greater precautions when making downloads outside of app stores such as Google Play and the App Store.

It is also necessary to monitor the permissions requested by the applications once they are downloaded, for example, a photo-editing application should not ask you to access your contacts or your location, this is a sign of the possibility of malware.

Beware of false good ideas

Ignorance of the general public about cyber security sometimes leads to choices that do not make people fat and do not sing from hunger.

"This is really useless, and worse, gives a false sense of security," Balan asserts.

For him, few hackers care about what happens through your phone or computer's camera, because most of the pictures that can be taken will not show anything interesting and therefore will not be salable.

Another bad idea that many recommend is changing your password regularly, a "stupid idea" according to Balan, who asserts that every time you change your password you only risk creating a loophole, and the best thing is to change it only when your device is actually hacked.

For a secure password, the cyber expert recommends using at least 12 randomly selected characters that allow creating a set that can take several years to decipher.