Interpol has tips on how to stay protected from sextortion, ransomware and other digital extortion attacks

Digital extortion

Digital extortion is one of the harshest forms of cybercrime as it not only causes financial loss but also can affect the image of the person too. Criminals leverage the compromised security in the system and identify available loopholes in the device to gain the required information to carry digital extortion from their victims.

The digital extortion attack can come in different ways and the most common forms are ransomware, sextortion and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS). To prevent people from getting trapped in such situations, Interpol has put together a comprehensive guide on how to increase the device’s security and prevent these attacks.

Sextortion: How it happens and tips to stay safe

Among all the digital extortion attacks, the most common these days is “sextortion”. To carry out these attacks, criminals pretend to be friends with their victims and trick them into sharing explicit images and videos. Then they use those images to blackmail the victims and want them to feel ashamed.

How to stay protected from Sextortion

The simplest way of preventing anything like this from happening is to avoid sharing explicit images and videos.

Avoid being intimate on video calls

In case you’ve become the victim of Sextortion, here’s what Interpol advises.

Stop all communication with the criminals.

Don’t agree with the blackmailer’s requests.

Capture screenshots and other necessary proofs and report them to the police or cybercrime department.

Ransomware: How it happens and tips to stay safe

Ransomware attacks are malware-driven attacks where scammers somehow manage to bypass the system’s security and encrypt the data and put the entire system on lockdown. Then, they contact the victim and blackmail them into making payments to decrypt their data and get their system back online.

How to stay protected from Ransomware attacks

Take regular backups of your data.

Install software and apps from authorised app stores.

Install an antivirus or malware protector and keep it updated.

Avoid clicking on random links or opening attachments that’s not from a trusted source.

DDoS attacks: How it happens and tips to stay safe

DDoS attacks are usually conducted on a large scale. Scammers usually target the entire organisation where they overload the company’s network and crash the server making their website or the services down.

How to stay protected from DDoS attacks

Monitor network performance and traffic regularly.

Improve network security and update the database regularly.

Maintain good cyber hygiene.

Make sure that the IT teams are prepaid and well-equipped to handle such attacks.