Undoubtedly, the internet has changed every facet of our society. The way we live, learn, communicate and do business isn't the same again. The internet has totally transformed the 21st century into an era of possibilities.
With the internet, you can reach your friends, class mates and others around the world at the speed of light. You can also access your favorite games, videos, music, news updates and other vital information. And most importantly, you can take real-time lectures on the internet.
In fact, you can learn about anything on the internet. You can share knowledge with students from other institutions. And you can also interact with the best lecturers around the world.
The possibilities and the opportunities are just boundless and limitless. Sincerely, the internet has ushered in a level playing ground for the 21st century students. Hence, with the internet, you can compete favorably well with students from other parts of the world.
If you can only harness ten percent of the opportunities on the internet, the sky would be your starting point. And with vision, focus, time and determination, you can achieve greater heights in your academics and other areas of your life. In fact, you can dare to dream; you can even become the next Bill Gate, Steve Job, Jack Dorsey and the Mark Zuckerbergs of this world. After all, Mark Zuckerberg was just 20 years old when he founded Facebook in 2004.
However, in spite of these great opportunities, you should also not forget the fact, that the internet as a community has its own challenges. And just like other communities of the world, evil people have invaded the internet. And their only business is to attack and defraud innocent people in the internet community.
They use different tools and techniques to carry out their evil acts. They steal private and sensitive information from other members of the internet community. And most times, they take advantage of the anonymity of the internet, to abuse, threaten and to intimidate other people. They could be the next door neighbors of their victims, or maybe thousands of miles away from them.
They are known in the community as cyber criminals, malicious hackers, malware writers, identity thieves, cyber bullies and stalkers, spammers or the so called yahoo boys.
On the 7th of September 2013, the Nigerian punch news paper ran a special feature entitled “the incredible world of millionaire student fraudsters”. In that report, it was discovered that some students were behind most cyber crimes committed in the country.
It was shocking to read how these set of students defrauded millions from their victims, and wasted the money on frivolous life styles in their various campuses. But the good news is that nemesis has caught-up with them; because as of today, they are in the custody of the Economic and financial crime commission (EFCC). And certainly, they would spend some of their precious years in the prison, if they are finally convicted. What a pity! But if only they had channeled their skills and talents positively; perhaps by now, their story would have been totally different. At least, we are very much aware of the great exploit, of some young Nigerians on the internet.
You also remember that some time ago, the Nigerian media was awash with the news of the death of one Miss Cynthia Osokogu; a post-graduate student of Nasarawa State University, an indigene of Delta State, and the only daughter of one retired Major General Frank Osokogu.
Cynthia full of life left Abuja for Lagos on the 21st of July 2012, and was received at the International Airport by some men. Later investigations confirmed that she was lodged at a hotel in Festac town Ikeja; while in that hotel, she was found dead. And while we still nurse the pain of this loss, we are nevertheless grateful that within the space of one month, the police was able to unravel the mystery behind her death.
Cynthia did not die as a result of heart attack or any kind of illness, but was killed by the very friends she met on the internet, through her blackberry messenger. And more painful is the fact that these so called friends are students and fellow Nigerians; the same kind of people that have damaged the image of this country, to the extent that a serving senator in the United States of America, could label Nigerians as scammers. And regrettably, we have what is known today as “Nigerian scam” in the internet world; all because of the activities of these little few.
And maybe, to prove the reality of Cynthia’s story, just listen to the statement or should we say the confession of one of the friends, when he was paraded by the police. And I would like to quote the statement as reported by the punch newspaper of 23rd August 2012.
“We met through a group on BlackBerry Messenger. We had formed a kind of friendship online.
“When she (Cynthia) told me that she was coming to Lagos to buy some goods for her boutique in Abuja, I invited her to Casmillo Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, where an incident led to her death. It was not planned that way. It was a big mistake”.
“She arrived in Lagos from Abuja on Sunday, July 21 and I took her to the hotel. I gave her a pack of Ribena juice, which had been injected with a drug I use on women that makes them dizzy, weak and wipes their memory afterwards. I have used the drugs on four girls but it did not kill them”.
“I stayed in the room with her for about 12 hours. We talked… I noticed that she did not drink all the juice and so the drug was not as effective as expected”.
“I had no choice than to engage her in a struggle. I had to tie her so that she would not be able to follow me after robbing her” I unquote.
What a world we live in; man inhumanity to his fellow man. To Cynthia’s parents, relations and well wishers; I pray that God should give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable lost.
In their moments of grief, they should remember the immortal words of one of our foremost journalist; Late Dele Giwa; and I would also like to quote those words.
"No evil deed can go unpunished. Any evil done by man to man will be redressed, if not now, then certainly later, if not by man, then certainly by God, for the victory of evil over good can only be temporary”, I unquote.
Cynthia’s case you just heard is the reality of what is happening in our society today. At least from the confession I quoted, we realize that Cynthia was not their first victim. And if not for her death, I'm absolutely sure that more ladies would have ended up that way. But, we were just lucky that her death, though painful, opened up a new kind of national awareness.
Globally, it hasn’t been different also. Because, reliable statistics from different reputable organizations, such as Gartner Incorporation, Harris International, Symantec Incorporation and so many others, attest to the fact that millions of people are defrauded yearly on the internet. And that high profile politicians, businessmen, musicians, actors, students, teenagers and even children, in different parts of the world, are constantly attacked on the internet.
Just few months ago, the internet community was shocked to learn about the death of one Hannah Smith; a 14-year old British girl who committed suicide, after she was repeatedly bullied on the internet. It is also painful to recall that some children unbelievably, took their lives as a result of the harassment, intimidation and the threats they received on the internet.
Back home, we are also witnesses to the malicious display of nude pictures, and video clips of innocent girls on the internet. Most times, some of these pictures and video clips were posted by their former friends. And even on so many occasions, we’ve learnt of how the twitter, Facebook, and the e-mail accounts of notable Nigerians were hijacked without their knowledge.
The truth is that no one is immune from internet attack. Not even our own president; Dr. Good-luck Ebele Jonathan. In fact, Barak Obama; the current president of the United States of America; and the number one citizen of the most advanced country in the world, was once attacked. And recently, his wife and some top American personalities were also targeted.
But despite these challenges, I still believe that you can navigate the internet safely. You only need to know few things about the internet community.
In fact, the internet isn't a community you should visit ignorantly. Because doing so is like visiting China, Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries of the world, without knowing their laws. At least, you know that such a journey could be risky, and that is how it is on the internet.
When you visit the internet as a novice, you would end up doing things that you are not supposed to do. And when that happens, the result could be dangerous. You could be held for crimes you never committed, you might ruin your reputation; you might risk your money and even risk your life. A typical example is the Cynthia’s story you just heard.
Unfortunately, most students are already connected to the internet without knowing these facts. Perhaps, you are even one of them. And more worrisome is the fact that so many kids have been given access to the internet without adequate supervision by their parents. And maybe, because nothing negative has really happened to them, it is assumed all is well. But that isn’t true. Because most times, internet criminals could hide their activities from their victims in order to strike at a later date.
And you should also know that even if the system you connect to the internet does not contain your private and financial information, the truth is that these criminals are still after it. They could hijack your system in order to attack other members of the internet community without your knowledge. And such attack if discovered, would be linked to you instead of the criminals. And there is no way you can deny such crime since it was initiated from your system.
Therefore, to avoid this type of attack and so many others, you should go through the subsequent post in this blog. It is also important you recommend this blog to your friends and classmates that are on Facebook, twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social networking sites.
The importance of cyber security information can’t be overemphasized. Most nations of the world have created different platforms to pass the information across to their citizens.
For instance, the United States of America has declared October of every year as her National Cyber security awareness month.
The Australian and the Singaporean governments have also set aside one week and day respectively, to remind their citizens of the importance of internet security.
And I will also not fail to inform you that more than one hundred countries of the world have joined the European Union to celebrate “the Safer Internet Day” on the second Tuesday of every February.
But nevertheless, even if no day or week have yet been set aside for us, I strongly believe that sooner or later an official platform would be created. Thanks to the appointment of the wife of the president, Her Excellency Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) champion for child online protection.
I also believe that by this appointment, the “internet security bill” which has been partially abandoned would be given the needed attention.
Once again, I welcome you to the cyber security information series on this blog. I promise that after going through it, you will become better internet citizen. You will have the confidence to discuss internet security with your class mates and others around you. Most importantly, you will be more informed on how to protect yourself from viruses, spywares, Trojan horses, worms, rootkits, identity theft and phishing attacks.
And in order to accomplish this task effectively, I will be using simple and easy to understand everyday language. I will also avoid the use of so many internet jargons and terminologies.
Just relax, as I roll out thirteen pieces of advice that would help you stay safe on the internet in my next post.
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