Where it all starts!
It was just a few days ago. I got a Whatsapp notification from my friend Naomie.
I open it. She forwarded me a message that she received that said the following:
« In celebration of its 93rd birthday, Lufthansa is giving away 200 free business class tickets to a destination of your choice. »
As appealing as the offer seems and even though I decided to click the link, I was skeptical.
Even worse, so you don’t think twice about sharing and liking the promotion, the look-alike Lufthansa website also embeds a Facebook widget that displays other likes and comments to make you feel confident and safe.
Easy, isn’t it? Too easy…
I can smell the scam from miles away and it doesn’t take me long to discover the catch.
It was all in the URL. When I took a closer look, I noticed the ‘L’ in Lufthansa.com is truncated and looks more like a beheaded L.
At first glance, this is not easy to see and unfortunately, according to Facebook, more than 17,259 people fell victim to this scam.
I know what you’re thinking: a like? a share? What’s the risk?
In this case, liking and sharing leads to numerous unwanted consequences and dangers (as described below), that you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemy…
Sometimes, malicioius website will ask you to enter your phone number
to validate your participation, to which you would have subscribed
to whatever kind of paid daily service, in any case something
very expensive for you.
Sometimes, you are led to download malicious applications or browser extensions that enable access to all your browser data, connections,
passwords, and credit card numbers (so now you finally grasp the deep meaning of the word Phishing.)
This tiny little scam seems harmless, but every day tens of thousands of people are victimized and even sometimes willingly and wholeheartedly participate in spreading the epidemic.
But don’t worry, here are some tips to avoid such consequences.
Are you the holder of at least one child?
If not, please go on your way and come back to me once you’ll finally get to work.
Alright, now that we’ve established that you’re a responsible person, there a few things I’d like to discuss with you. First, you can look on the left at the bunch a figures about cyberbullying and realize the full extend of it. This is a serious and growing concern, affecting in particular children and teenagers, and whose consequences can be really dramatic.
This article will help you identify whether your child is being cyberbullied. This doesn’t constitute some sort of absolute truth, but rather an array of indicators which, I hope, will help you protect, or even save your child. These are examples of behavioral changes to pay attention to.
Securing your Facebook Account
2.38 billion people use Facebook. In 2018, Facebook was attacked and 50 million accounts were affected. Trying to get ahead of the breach, Facebook logged off 90 million users.
Keep your Facebook safe and sound, It may not seem like it’s a pathway to your bank or credit cards but it is a pathway into your life and it needs to be protected.
The first step is to change your password. Facebook doesn’t show you password strength so you may want to read our article on creating a strong password for ideas. You can always use a reliable password safe so that you feel more sure about not getting locked out. It isn’t that difficult to reset your password if you do forget so make privacy your priority!
Here are the steps for securing your Facebook:
Go first to the site or the Facebook app and please Follow the instructions below:
How to change your Facebook password on your phone’s app:
Go to the Menu Icon (the icon with the 3 horizontal bars) and click there:
- Scroll down to “Settings & Privacy” and Click on it to open the sub-menu:
- Select then « Settings » from this sub-menu option:
- Scroll down and choose “Security & Login”:
- Simply Click on “Change your Password” and Follow the instructions:
In this specific page, we have several security options that we will Highly Recommend to set, but let’s start first to choose a Strong New Password.
- Now you got redirected to the “Change your Password” screen to complete this step:
Now that you have changed successfully your Facebook password, so You are much more secured but we invite you below to see the section HOW TO STOP THE PAIN if you feel already Hacked.
Special Thanks to Alisa Givertz for the English Version of this article and Zacharie Lahmi for the French Version.
This tiny little update of password seems harmless, but every day tens of thousands of people are victimized. By sharing this knowledge you can help other people.
And don’t worry, here are some tips to protect you even better.
You want also to share your experience ? Send us a video! Contact us here please
Name: NOEMIE
Country: ISRAEL
Origin of attack: INDONESIA
Type of attack: #hack #ransom
Tip of Noemie
If you are hacked or/and ransomed, before to panic, try to talk with the hacker. You could be surprised about the results of this conversation.
« Kids and teenagers often refuse to seek help from an adult because they are afraid to have their smartphone,laptop,internet and social media access taken away from them. » (Tokunaga 2010)
If you’ve read « How to find out if your child is being cyberbullied » and The 10 forms of cyberbullying« , you’re able to identify cyberbullying. Now it’s time to learn how to take action to make it stop.
Let’s clear something out; there is no miracle solution to this, but there are things you can do to save your child, your loved-one or even yourself. There are two kind of strategies: prevention and action.
How to prevent Cyberbullying
In many cases, pictures or other media content are bullies’ weapon of choice. The fear of seeing private pictures posted online can have dramatic consequences, and even lead to suicide as we’ve seen with the tragic case of Amanda Todd.
It’s absolutely essential that:
- You never give your passwords to anyone, and make sure they’re strong enough
- you set up accordingly the privacy settings of your social media accounts.
- you never share any “sensitive” content with anyone online, you never know who can turn into a bully and use this content against you.
- Also know that if you did share something online, there are ways to have it removed. Many websites will guide you through the process, like THIS ONE
HOW TO STOP CYBERBULLYING
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STOP answering immediately,
- RECORD, print, take screenshots, photograph everything, aka keep evidence of the bullying.
- TALK to a trusted person, you can even go to the police.
- If someone created a fake account impersonating you, contact the support team of the website in question to have it deleted.
- If someone hacked your account, immediately change your password. If you can’t log in anymore,contact the support team of the website where it’s happening; they’re used to this kind of situation. You’ll be able to log in again after you’ve confirmed your identity. You can also have a fake account deleted this way if you can prove it’s not you behind the account.
- If you receive anonymous messages, you can forward them to the relevant website support team (the one used by the bully to send the messages). Hotmail, Gmail and Facebook for example have spam and abuse policies in place, and can suspend or delete a bully’s account.
- If you see a picture, a message or a video of you online and you know who posted it, contact the person and explain to him/her why you would like him/her to remove it. If he/she replies, keep screenshots of the conversations, so that if he/she refuses to remove it you can send the screenshots to the support team of the website where the media is shared, and ask them to remove it. Many of the major social media websites like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram have set policies which ban users from using their website to insult or damage someone’s reputation. When they receive one complaint, they delete the contested content. After several complaints about the same user, they can suspend or delete that user’s account.
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Your internet provider can also help you identity a bully.
Before reading more…
One thing to always keep in mind when discussing cyberbullying, is that victims are rarely the first ones to raise the alarm.
This complex form of bullying is often the result of a long chain of actions and pernicious behaviors. Bullies are, at first, discreet, latent, and insidious, until gradually becoming more and more comfortable and open about their bullying behavior.
But what is cyberbullying exactly? It’s actually pretty simple: any form of bullying using NICT (New Information and Communication Technologies) is considered cyberbullying.
It seemed important to us to list the most common forms of cyberbullying, so that you will be able to identify them and act on them, in case you’re ever facing this kind of situation.
EXCLUSION
By that we mean deliberate social exclusion. So, just FYI, blatantly not inviting a friend to a Facebook event is enough to be felt like social exclusion for the person not invited. Of course, it doesn’t feel like the worst thing ever, that’s a very mild form of exclusion, but that’s also quite sneaky. Who knows how it might affect somebody? Sometimes a first reaction to a situation of social exclusion from someone can trigger more acts of exclusions towards this person by others, potentially more aggressive ones as well.
OUTING
To out someone means to embarrass or publicly humiliate a person or a group by posting sensitive or secret information about them online, without their consent. The absence of consent in this situation is very serious, as it can have legal implications. Depending on the country, this can go from a small punishment to a -you wish you’d never done that- kind of punishment.
TROLLING
Nope, it’s not what you think it is… No, we’re not talking about the Scandinavians mythological creatures… yeah the rather mean and ugly ones, but here we’re talking online troll! However, the homonym here is not coincidental; an online troll is someone who enjoys messing with a community, by posting aggressive and provocative messages that will, for sure, tigger emotional responses from others. It’s also apparently the favorite hobby of more than 25% of people who are active on at least one social media (source: YouGov). With no shame whatsoever. The scale of this type of online behavior is getting more and more attention, to the point where some says it’s a form of harassment.
HARASSMENT
Harassment is one of the most serious form on bullying. It refers to a constant, intentional and strong form of bullying, manifesting mainly through abusing, cruel and threatening messages to the victim. It can lead to dramatic situations. According to a Pew Research study, 4 out of 10 people are victims of online harassment.
CYBERSTALKING
If some forms of cyberbullying can be done by any of us, oh boi cyberstalking is not one of them. This form of cyberbullying is so intense, it can only be the work of some kind of unstable person. Cyberstalking is cyberbullying level 1000; it’s described as the action of using the internet (or other electronic means) to stalk and/or harass someone or a group. It can take diverse forms; false accusations, defamation, or even go as far as identity theft, threats, vandalism and sexual soliciting…
FRAPING
Guys, it’s 2018… the times of “joking around with a friend by posting on his/her behalf on social media when he/she’s not around” are long gone. Today we’d more say something like “impersonating someone online and ruining his/her reputation”. Times have changed indeed, what used to be just a tasteless joke a few years ago can be considered an infraction today… As a matter of fact, an Irish guy was recently fined $2,700 for having posted an embarrassing status on his ex-girlfriend’s Facebook account. Nowadays it’s called “Fraping”, a contraction of the words “Facebook” and “raping”, no less. Urbandictionary defines fraping as “The act of raping someone’s Facebook page when they leave it open and vulnerable”.
FAKE PROFILES
Fakes profiles are often used on social media to anonymously attract or bully victims. Sometimes bullies can even pretend to be another victim seeking help to target someone. Bullied people are also susceptible to hide behind fake profiles. In May 2018, Facebook claimed to have deactivated 583 million of fake accounts.
DISSING
Dissing is the act of sending or posting online cruel information, with the goal of tarnishing your reputation or your loved ones’. The cyber bully usually knows you and is looking to put you down by posting pictures, screenshots or videos.
TRICKERY
Also called confidence trick, it’s what happens when someone gains your trust, only to have you reveal embarrassing or secret information and then use it against you by sharing them online.
CATFISHING
Catfishing is often the action of impersonating someone that you’re not, for deceptive purposes. It can be achieved through stealing identities, posting pictures, and/or creating fake social media accounts. A catfish wants to hide who he/she really is. This kind of person will study your social media profile or your child’s, and steal information from it to create a believable fake identity. Why some people are doing that is a not an easy question to answer, but it’s important to remember that it can potentially damage your reputation.
How it all started!
How it all started!
Damn man… What a sad story you just read! You don’t know how this Nigerian family got your email, nor why a wealthy family from NIGERIA would need your help, but wow they have been through some stuff… they really want your help…
That’s your money they really want.
We all got this email at some point. No surprise here, as scamming seems to be Africa’s number one natural resource nowadays. Exit gold or diamond, and welcome advanced-fee scam! It has become so popular that it even got a little nickname: scam 419 (referring to art.419 of the Nigerian criminal code, which is about fraud).
5-parts in-depth analysis
The context : Civil wars, political coups, violence, death… you’ve seen it on TV, Africa doesn’t seem to be the funnest place on earth. So, of course you’re not a heartless robot (yes, we checked) and when an Africa family reach out, you feel them!
The sender : ]It’s always a government official, a businessman, or someone from a really, really, really rich family, aka someone seemingly l-e-g-it. Often it’s also a woman; women are more trustworthy.
The problem : So you got it, your new pen pal is very very very rich. And guess what, he also just inherited a whole lot more money! It’s just too bad because, given the current political instability in his country, the money is frozen, he can’t get it.
Your mission : Help a friend out! Help him move his money out of the country, by transferring into your bank account. That’s what good friends do for each other right? And isn’t it a bit exciting too?
The reward : To thank you for your help, your new friend will generously let you keep a sum of the released money in your bank account. Isn’t it even more exciting??
1. War Games (1983)
Computer hacker Martin heads a group of specialists who test the security of various San Francisco companies. Martin is approached by two National Security Agency (NSA) officers who ask him to steal a newly invented decoder. Martin and his team discover that the black box can crack any encryption code, posing a huge threat if it lands in the wrong hands. When Martin realizes the NSA men who approached him are rogue agents, they frame him for the murder of the device’s inventor.
2. Sneakers (1992)
The episode tackles the Internet of Things and smart home devices, our internet culture of muting and blocking people, and a voyeuristic spin on online dating. At the same time, the episode manages to play with the concepts of memory and time as its plots come together, building to some truly walloping twists that leave the viewer awestruck and devastated several times over. Without spoiling too much, it’s safe to say this is not a Christmas story with a happy ending.
3. Enemy of the State (1998)
Still among the most emotionally poignant episodes of Black Mirror, « Be Right Back » is a profound examination of mortality and loss. It’s the first episode to introduce the idea of a sentient digital consciousness after you die, expanded upon in subsequent episodes like « San Junipero » and « Black Museum. » Martha tries out a new service first allowing her to message a virtual clone of her dead husband and then to live with a synthetic version of him. Martha grapples with the emotional weight of how this unnatural relationship affects her family and her own grieving process.
4. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
As the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, veteran cop John McClane carries out another routine assignment: bringing in a computer hacker for questioning. Meanwhile, a tech-savvy villain named Thomas Gabriel launches an attack on America’s computer infrastructure. As chaos descends around him, McClane must use old-fashioned methods to fight the high-tech threat.
5. Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013)
Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook became part of everyday life in the 2000s, but most users remain ignorant about what enables these platforms to be “free.” While online privacy has been catapulted to the forefront after events like the Cambridge Analytica exposé in 2018, Terms and Conditions May Apply delved into this topic in 2013. The documentary looks at how corporations and governments learn about consumers from their Internet and phone usage.
6. Zero Days (2016)
This documentary from director Alex Gibney pulls back the curtain on the malicious computer worm developed by the U.S. and Israel to sabotage a key part of Iran’s nuclear program. Named Stuxnet, this cyberweapon is widely seen as a leap in nation-state cyberwarfare capabilities. The film’s interviews shape a compelling narrative that sometimes feels like a fictional spy film.
7. The Defenders (2018)
Keeping institutions safe from ever-evolving cyberthreats requires skilled and knowledgeable security experts. What separates The Defenders from other cybersecurity films is the care that it takes in interviewing people with deep historical understanding. This documentary concentrates on four famous cyberattacks and achieves rich storytelling through diverse conversation. Above all else, it shines a light on the unsung heroes that rarely get credit for protecting us day in and day out.
8. Anon (2018)
In the near future, private memories are recorded and crime has almost ceased to exist. But in trying to solve a series of murders, troubled detective Sal Frieland stumbles upon a young woman known only as “The Girl.” She has no identity, no history and is invisible to the cops. Sal realizes this may not be the end of crime, and it could be the beginning of it.
Based on the article by Nick Barrasso for Cybereason – « 7 Best Movies About Cybersecurity and Hacking ».
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Bullying is bad for everyone. Being bullied is obviously super hurtful, and can have some long-lasting impacts. We also know that being a bully is bad for people, even causing anger issues and social isolation.
So that’s why the findings of a new study are so upsetting: They show that cyber bullying isn’t so likely to come from your in-school enemy or some random classmate, it’s probably coming from your pals. The study found your current or former friends or partners are seven times more likely to cyber bully you than someone who you’ve never been friends with or dated before.
The reason is probably competition, according to the study. Whether it’s your friends trying to bully you out of a club or team you’re both going for, or your former S.O. hoping to win you back, jealousy and competition are probably why they’re bullying you.
The study, which will be presented at the 111th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, also found that LGBTQ youths were four times more likely to report being cyberbullied.
It’s important to remember that real friends don’t bully each other, though. If your supposed pals are tormenting you online or in person, you should probably drop them and find some new friends who love and support you. (Read this for tips on spotting a friend who is subtly bullying you.) Same with a romantic partner. If your current or former partner is bullying you in any way, dump them immediately.
It’s in their best interest to stop, too: According to the Times of India, being a cyber bully and getting cyber bullied are both harmful to health. According to DoSomething.org cyber bullying is super common. Girls are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of this kind of bullying, and 70% of teens frequently see it happening online. LGBTQ students are four times more likely to be cyber bullied than their heterosexual peers.
With social media being such an integral part of our lives, it’s also not shocking that that’s where a lot of cyber bullying happens. But of the teens who have seen bullying on social media, 90% ignored it. That could be because 81% of teens think cyber bullying is easier to get away with.
That’s a big problem though. Bullying of any kind can have serious impacts on the victim, including leading them to consider suicide. For the bully, perpetrating online hate has negative effects too, including leading to depression.
October is national bullying prevention awareness month. This school year, keep in mind how bad bullying can be and do your best to stomp it out. That way, we can all be a little happier and healthier both in person and online. Who doesn’t want that?
HOW TO ACT ?
Ressources (Guides, videos…)
- ABA (Anti Bullying Alliance)
- Mediasmarts.ca
- Stopcyberbullying.org
- Cyberbullying Research Center
- Endcyberbullying.org
- Kidshealth.org
- Overcomebullying.org
- Deletecyberbullying.org A
- Connectsafely.org
- Mentoringminds.com
Softwares
The 5 Best Episodes of Black Mirror
1. Fifteen Million Merits
Imagine a world where humans are cogs in a system, pedaling bikes to generate energy and earn virtual « merits. » These credits can be spent on content, avatar upgrades — or simply to skip the endless ads that invade their screen-filled bedrooms. A disturbing allegory of attention economy, reality TV, and commodified rebellion.
2. White Christmas
This chilling special blends three interwoven tales and explores themes like digital consciousness, social blocking, voyeurism, and surveillance. As the stories converge, the psychological impact hits hard — making it one of the darkest and most haunting episodes of the series.
3. Be Right Back
One of the most emotional episodes of the series. After the death of her partner, Martha uses a new AI service to recreate him — first through text, then as a synthetic humanoid. The story explores grief, identity, and what it means to be human when memory becomes data.
4. San Junipero
Set in a nostalgic digital afterlife, this episode follows two women — Yorkie and Kelly — as they fall in love across decades in a simulated world. Rare among Black Mirror for its hopeful tone, San Junipero questions time, memory, and the possibility of happiness beyond death.
5. The Entire History of You
In a world where brain implants allow people to replay memories at will, a man becomes obsessed with analyzing every gesture and conversation — especially his wife’s. The episode’s chilling realism makes it one of the most psychologically disturbing stories in the series.
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