Safety on the Internet

Zoom is a video conferencing app. Zoom Bombing is a cyber-attack on your video call where an individual or a group of people enter the call without the permission of the host. These individuals then display offensive or explicit images in order to cause distress to the recipients.

Video conferencing helps many people work remotely and allows us to stay in touch with our families and friends. Unfortunately as worldwide use of video conferencing continues to increase, so has the volume of cyber-attacks.

The links in Related Information provide details of how to secure your Zoom meeting and prevent unwanted people joining.

If you have experienced Zoom Bombing, this can be reported to Zoom and depending on the nature of the content, your local police force.

Phishing is a cyber crime where criminals contact people by email, telephone or text message, pretending to be a legitimate organisation. They try to get people to provide personal information such as bank details and passwords, and often include links that once clicked, download a virus to your computer and steal personal information. The information is then used to access accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.

Be aware of suspicious messages and emails and do not click on links or attachments in them. Never respond to unsolicited messages that ask for your personal or financial details.

If you do receive a suspicious email, this can be reported to National Cyber Security Centre via their Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) Any suspected frauds committed by email can be send to Action Fraud. See Q680 and Q749 for further information regarding fraud and see the links in Related Information to report any suspicious or fraudulent emails.

This is almost certainly a scam and you should delete or ignore the communication. There are different versions of scams and you must remember- if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Below are some examples of the methods scammers may use:

• 'Phishing' is the term used for a scam that attempts to induce you to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit cards numbers. In the case of a dating agency, it is preying on people who are lonely and want friendship. For any similar scenario, if you are asked for and give money (and it is a scam), it is unlikely you will ever see your money again.
• Telling you that you are a long lost relative of a recently deceased person, you have been chosen to inherit a large amount of money from a person who does not have any living relatives.
• Lottery scams may ask you to pay out in order to receive your winnings. No real lottery company would ask you to pay a fee before being able to claim your prize nor are large amounts of money handed out randomly. If you receive an email and it is not genuine, do not respond.
• Informing you that your computer has been hacked and you need to pay a 'ransom' in bitcoin . Further information on, and examples of this can be found in related information.
• You may receive a letter purporting to be from the police confirming the authenticity of a letter regarding a lottery win. The police do not authenticate commercial organisations.

To protect yourself from scammers, here are some useful tips:

• If you were a long lost relative it is unlikely that the executors would make contact with you via email.
• Is the phone number a mobile? A mobile call using a UK number can be made from anywhere in the world.
• Solicitors and executors of wills do not just hand over large sums of money without very thorough checks.
• Payment for the execution of a will comes out of the deceased person's estate, not from the people likely to receive a bequest.

It is better to thoroughly check out the situation rather than pay out a large sum of money on the basis of an email, electronic message, letter or phone call. Remember:

• NEVER give out your personal details, bank account details or send any money to anyone who sends you such a communication, unless you are satisfied it is genuine. Many people have been defrauded out of a lot of money.
• No matter how official it sounds check it out using a totally independent source.
• They may lie about being based in the UK as this may make the scams seem more believable.
• The addresses used are fake or reputable names of companies but with the wrong number.

Scam emails can be reported directly to Action Fraud, please see the link in related information.

The offence of revenge porn occurs when a person publishes/ shares/ discloses a private sexual photograph or film, without the consent of the person who appears in the photograph or film, or threatens to do so, intending to cause that person distress. It is not enough that the person appearing in the photograph or film is distressed, as there must be an intention to cause that person distress, hence the offence being referred to as revenge porn. It is not an offence if the photograph or film is shown only to the person who appears in the photograph or film. It does not have to be published on the internet, it can be sent via text message or shown in person.

There are some defences to this offence -

• That the material was disclosed as journalistic material and it was in the public interest to do so.
• That the material had been previously disclosed for reward (for example, someone selling a sex tape of themselves to a newspaper) and that there was no reason to believe that the person appearing in the image or video had not consented to that disclosure.
• That the disclosure was necessary to prevent, detect or investigate crime.

A person found guilty of this offence may face a fine or even imprisonment. If you believe that you have been the victim of revenge porn then contact your local police via their website, or by dialling 101. A victim of revenge porn can also get advice from the revenge porn helpline, see link in Related Information.

For circumstances that do not fit the above see Q697 for further information.

Cyberbullying is any form of bullying that takes place online. This could be blackmail/threats, abusive comments, spreading rumours, sharing embarrassing pictures or creating fake profiles on social networking sites.

Though there is no specific offence of cyberbullying, you could be found guilty under an existing offence. For example, sending someone threatening, abusive messages can lead to an offence of harassment (Q770) and posting sexual photographs of someone without their consent could be a criminal offence under the revenge porn law. (Q834).

Victims of Cyberbullying may be unaware as to what help is available to them. If the bullying is taking place on a social networking site (Facebook, Twitter etc.) you should contact them directly as they have policies in place to remove inappropriate material and if necessary, the bully's account, see link in related information.

If you are a child/young person then contact Childline for more help and guidance, see link in related information.

The behaviour could potentially amount to a criminal offence, we would suggest that you contact your local policing team via the non-emergency 101 number and report the matter.

Computer hacking is where people gain unauthorised access to information that is held on a computer. This can range from guessing someone's password to a 'global cyber security threat known as a 'ransomware attack.'

Ransomware can take two forms - it will either encrypt the files on a computer or lock a user's screen. In both cases the user will need a key in order to use the computer again. Of course the hacker will require payment for this, the amount demanded will vary and there is no guarantee the key will be provided.

You can minimise the risk of being infected by ransomware by taking the same precautions necessary to guard against malware in general. You should have good access control by keeping an eye on permissions used on shared computers and have a back up of your data.

Below is list of do's and don'ts when picking a password - remember the harder it is to guess, the less likely you are to be hacked.

• Don't reuse an old password
• Use a different password for each website
• Don't use dictionary words
• Avoid dates of birth and other personal information that can be found online
• Avoid patterns such as '1234', 'ABCDE '
• Mix lower and upper case letters, and symbols
• Make sure you have installed the latest security updates and
• Do not set your browser to remember your password

If you have been the victim of this or any other form of computer hacking, there are a number of organisations you can contact. Please see the websites in related information for further guidance.