DIGITAL SECURITY IS A LIFESTYLE

The Source media house was raided in March by Econet and their data was manipulated. Radio personality Tinopona Katsande popularly known (as Tin Tin) sex tap video leaked. There have been a lot of videos and pictures going viral on social media platforms mainly because of negligence and ignorance on how to secure our personal data.

journalists at DSZ workshop

Digital Society of Zimbabwe has been training journalists, bloggers and civil society to secure their information. The main trainers are Natasha Musonza, Tawanda Mugari and Christopher Musodza. DSZ provides in person and web-based digital security literacy capacity building and training. DSZ is a network of voluntary digital security trainers, IT professionals and privacy advocates scattered across the country, working together on a mission to empower Zimbabwean activists, human rights defenders and everyday internet users to become more resilient and secure in their use of digital tools online and offline, through capacity building assistance.

The journos really welcomed this kind of training because their work is at risk as they can easily be raided and their machines taken. A good example is the raid by Econet on The Source. 

Last week they had a workshop whereby they were training journanilsts on digital security. Most of the journalists did not know anything on digital security. Among the trainees was Xolisani Ncube, a News Day who was recently arrested by the police for publishing falsehoods. The journalists were trained on how to secure their information and their sources especially in times of raids.

Many people are not well versed with knowledge on how to protect their data. As someone that has attended  a digital security training l have attained some knowledge on how to strengthen online resilience, including assessing and understanding digital threats and how to combat them; practical tips on staying safe when using technology and social media; protecting my laptop against malware and viruses, creating and remembering strong passwords and mobile security.

@Stash training journalists

People have to be aware of phishing links. This is an attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Most often this can happen on Facebook.  For instance, last week l received a message someone asking me to send them an email. I went through their profile and found out that they had joined Facebook 2 hours ago. After l declined to send them an email, the profile was pulled down. People must not trust unlicensed software as these pose threats to their personal data. Genuine software licences are not cheap but they are worth having, they have fewer risks and they are trustworthy, the moment we have cracked OP, we are now opening the doors for malware.

One can also protect their data by turning on the two step verification button on their email settings.  It’s like you will be signing in with something you know (your password) and something you have (a code sent to your phone). One can also pre generate codes from g-mail and the codes can be used once only. One can also download an app called google authenticator.

Google Authenticator generates 2-step verification codes on your phone. Enable 2-step verification to protect your account from hijacking by adding another layer of security. With 2-step verification signing in will require a code generated by the Google Authenticator app in addition to your account password.

Tinopona’s pictures could not have leaked if she had protected her information in a way that it can only be visible to her. One can protect her data by using Vera crypt. Vera Crypt adds enhanced security to the algorithms used for system and partitions encryption making it immune to new developments in brute-force attacks. The encrypted information will be visible when you want it to be.

In this digital era, people have to be very careful and protect their data. Being safe means sacrificing some circumstances. Digital security should be a life style for everyone.

LETS US BE RESPONSIBLE YOUTH

Most Zimbabwean youth no longer have their future at heart. All they think about is how to make themselves happy and live a life that they see on MTV. Yes there are no jobs and all the other hardships we are facing but going around town dressing like the Jonas brothers and all the other hip hop artists and partying all the time will not bring food to the table.

Picture courstey of HarareNews

The Kim Kardashians of this world get money by partying all night. My question to the youths out there is are you getting paid by partying. If you are please show the whole of Zimbabwe how you are doing it. Nowadays young girls think being half naked is the “in thing” copying what they see on TV and the funny part is they wear it in the streets. Girls are now more concerned about how they look so as to impress men and to look on top of the range rather than concentrating on their school work.

Yes, it is understandable that your parents cannot afford to take you to school because of the prevailing economic situations. Then why do you have to be of loose morals to earn a living. There are many ways to survive in this country under these circumstances but not selling your body at a tender age.

 Most uneducated girls are now prostitutes because they want to live a life they are not. Some of them are strippers plus prostitutes at the same time. After a stripping session one starts to look for a client. This is their daily routine. A visit of Private Lounge will confirm to you what l am saying. Girls as young as 18 years old are involved in this kind of business. During the day they are normal ladies in the suburbs and in most cases they have a boyfriend of their age group whom they are also having sex with. This leads to the circulation of the HIV/AIDS virus amongst the youth of today. 

“Pantyprenuership” won’t make us be better citizens of the country. This is one of the reasons our economy is getting so bad because of this generation of young man and women who don't know what to prioritize in life. I don't  understand that you can  afford  to be buying alcohol instead of investing that money into your education or something that will have long term benefits for you and your family.

  

One of the Strength is confronting the brutal facts! I hope this helps some of my friends.