Thursday, 22 December 2022 Assist. Dr. Nastja Cepak about online safety

Smart devices and online networks have become part of our everyday lives, especially during the holiday season, when we shop online and without any consideration share our data and our bank account. In doing so, we rarely think that this kind of activity might have a significant impact on our lives. 

Assist. Dr. Nastja Cepak, an expert in Cryptography, from the Department of Mathematics at UP FAMNIT, shared some advice about online safety: »The responsibility lies to a large extent with the individual itself, because they decide whenever they will share their personal information or not. The main problem is the lack of an elemental culture of behaviour, especially on social media. In general, the younger generation learns from older ones, but not in the digital era where the changes are very rapid. In this case, the Cryptography itself can't help us. It relies more on the social dimension of the internet, where our lives are directly related to digital, which we certainly can't ignore.«

The main task of cryptographers is to protect online information, data and confidentiality on the internet. In addition to theoretical and academic work, Assist. Dr. Cepak also uses her knowledge of codes and advises on what types of codes are applicable for different purposes, how to develop them and how to take care of keys so that safety would be optimal. Besides that, her work includes cryptographic modules and physical encryption devices, which are used for security performance in encryption and store keys. 

The advice of the expert?

Customers can have some difficulties checking whether their smart device is more or less safe, but what they can do is take precautionary measures to protect themselves against potential fraud. This can be done by securing the camera and avoiding the use of personal names and addresses. Instead of that, the user sets up an additional email which does not include any personal data. 

During the holiday season, when scams are more common, the expert advises the user to pay attention to -HTTPS, on S- and to overcheck the website, as there are many of them that end up as fake ones. In addition, she also advises against storing bank cards, even though the website offers to do so.

The priority of user protection is »to be aware of who is accessing digital data, because every post leaves a trace that cannot be completely erased,« summarizes Assist. Dr. Cepak.