It's amazing how quickly we have become reliant on the internet. Photo / NZME
It's amazing how quickly we have become reliant on the internet. Photo / NZME
OPINION:
The cyber attack on Waikato District Health Board back in May is scary to say the least.
It is also a huge wake-up call to all of us. Not just businesses but everyone who owns a device and that's just about every person in New Zealand over the ageof 5.
The attack brought down all its IT systems along with its phones. The NZ Herald reported at the time that an unidentified group had claimed responsibility for the hack. This group had reportedly accessed confidential patient notes, staff details, and financial information.
Of course, the threat to people's privacy was awful but worse was how the attack impacted on patients and staff.
I can't imagine how stressful it would have been to everyone involved. Patients waiting for treatment and doctors and nurses worrying about them as well as having to work under such stressful circumstances.
Then in the last couple of days there have been ransomware attacks on our schools and kindergartens. We weren't the only ones. Hundreds of organisations across the world were affected.
Think about how the majority of the world operates today. Now turn off all the computers. Imagine what would happen.
Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.
It's hard to believe how quickly we have come to rely on being online. We use it to buy food, clothes, communicate. How would we cope if it suddenly turns off?
I don't have the answer to that. But we all need to think about it and we all need to try our best to keep ourselves safe from hackers.
Just yesterday I received a message from one of my Facebook friends. It said "hey when did this happen?" and had a video attached.
I've been caught out by this type of thing before so even though my first instinct was to click on the link, I hesitated, then closed it. Two minutes later I got a message from the person saying "don't open that video, I've been hacked". I quickly deleted it.
The other thing I never engage with are the hundreds of Facebook posts that pop up in my feed with heading such as "if a burglar broke into you house and stole what's on top of your fridge, what would they get".
Or "these women all deserve a week on an island with unlimited food and wine" and there is a list of names.
Usually I don't make it onto the list but I am constantly surprised at how many people do engage and tag their friends.
Different when you comment on friends and family and even reputable companies that you know actually exist.
Personally I wouldn't be tagging or commenting on posts on social media that I'd never heard of or who ask such weird questions.
The other one I saw recently was "your new name is the the first thing on your left and the last thing you ate" in which case my name would now be Paper Egg.
It might be amusing but the question is why? Why do they ask such questions and why are so many people compelled to answer.
Be careful on the internet. It would be lovely if we could trust everyone on there but we all know that's not the case.
Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.
