A Text in the Middle of the Night

This is a reprint of a post from 2012 but is very relevant today.

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. We are allowed to have and to express opinions on any subject. 

Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Here is the original post:

Last night at one-thirty AM my wife's smartphone received a text message.  We have someone in the hospital so we burst out of bed to read the message.  It was a text of an internet scam which has been active for over a year.  The text says that the receiver has won $1000 and to get the money one needs only go to a link provided in the text.  The link loads a virus which steals a person's private personal information (passwords, account numbers, social security number, etc.) from a computer or smartphone. This is a criminal activity.

The person who sent the text does not care why you might respond, whether it is out of greed or anger at the late-night text. Either way, they have you. If you send them any information, they have you.

And, they may have you even if you do not send them any information. Just opening the link may install MALWARE, malicious software that will run in the background without your knowledge. One of the things this might do is to give to the predator the names and contact information of everyone in your contact list. If you have stored sign-on information, the wolf can now sign on as you on any of your online accounts. The predator will also search your phone for banking and credit card numbers. 

Attacks on personal information are rampant. In just the same way, Christians are constantly under attack from The Evil One and his servants, especially when they are distracted by life's worries or worse, are spiritually asleep.  It is not currently popular to think of Satan as a person but the Bible clearly does.  Most people, including Christians, do not need his help in falling short of the mark.

Remember, if you resist the devil in the power of the Lord, the devil will run away! James 4:7.

A Few Internet Safety Tips

 

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Some may even be stalking you personally. 

Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Some unknown person wants you to open an unknown link. Opening the link, or sometimes, even calling the sending number, installs malware in your devices, giving that person access to all of your personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea.  

Here are some useful internet safety tips:

 Be highly skeptical of unsolicited emails.

R    Restrict your accounts so that only people whom you choose can view your posts and photos.

Tu  If a phone call comes from someone not on your contacts list, send it to voice mail.

 Make sure your social media profiles are set to private.

Use complex passwords and have a totally different password for each online account. If you are like me, you will need to keep a small notebook to remember them all.

4.      Add a second layer of security (like a time-sensitive code sent to your phone or authenticator app) for banking, email, and social media. This is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5.      Never Share any access codes with anyone else. Delete them from your phone after you use them.

6.      Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browsers, and applications to patch any newly discovered security vulnerabilities.

7.      Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you can, avoid public Wi-Fi entirely.

8.      Be highly skeptical of unexpected messages claiming you won a sweepstakes or have been hacked. 

R      Turn off any location services. They do not need to know where you are.

D    Do not post your schedule of when you will be at home alone, and especially, do not tell them when you will not be at home.

R    Remember that anything that is posted online will be online forever.

Internet Safety: Confirm Who Has Sent You a Mesaage

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

We recently received a text message which read:

            A quick reminder to check the email from

            us regarding some important insurance 

            updates!

This text made no sense to us. Who sent it? Was it legitimate? Was it an attempt to get us to make a return call to the sending phone number? Why was the sender not identified? It is possible that merely responding to the text could install malware on your cell phone. Be very suspicious of text messages which come from senders not on your contacts list.

Often, an unknown person desires for you to open a link within their text. When you open the link, or sometimes when you even call the number, malware is installed on your device, giving that unknown person access to all of our personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

After much investigation, we determined that this message came from our dentist and was not malicious. It was merely clumsily composed. The sad part was that our dental expenses may be increasing!

Internet Safety: Unexpected e-mails

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and, as a first century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Recently my wife and I received an e-mail from our son, who lives in a different state from us, telling us that he had some new photographs for us to see. This was surprising since he communicates with us almost exclusively by phone calls and text messages. So, we texted him to ask if the e-mail came from him. It did not.

Some unknown person wanted us to open the e-mail, which probably contained a link which we would be instructed to open in order to view the photographs. Opening the link would have installed malware in our devices, giving access to all of our linked devices, probably not a very good idea.