It is one of the issues that will mark the political year due to the implications of having specific software to spy on political rivals, but fundamentally it is not a new issue. Here it is being taken to the highest media level because of the people involved, however, it is possible to extrapolate the general situation everywhere.
Let's review. At this stage of the game, everyone is clear that telecommunications devices contain all kinds of personal information, some of minor importance and others much more sensitive. We also know that as communication tools, we use them to exchange information with other people... The big warning: everyone is aware that, as a technology, everything can have weaknesses and lead to unwanted information leaks. Of course, this does not usually happen by chance, the last piece is missing: the cybercriminal. Someone willing to explore all possible options to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the systems to profit, whether in terms of confidential, sensitive or relevant information, whether in economic terms, through blackmail or, directly, theft.
What can be done to avoid it? Or at least, to minimize the risks of this happening. Modestly, what we have been preaching for a long time: pedagogy and training for prevention and good practices. Because on their own particular scale, both personally and professionally, no one is exempt from being a victim of espionage or attacks against the security of their electronic devices.
We have often made reminders of how to protect these devices, such as mobile phones or personal computers, and it can never be said that it is enough. Let's remember some of these recommendations, such as having a personal lock pattern or password when not in use to prevent anyone from using it, using secure passwords, keeping operating systems updated and using anti-malware software, avoiding public Wi-Fi networks, understanding what we are allowing when we install an application and whether the permissions we give are appropriate for its purpose or, for example, avoiding clicking on unknown links, being suspicious of dubious emails or opening attachments from sources outside our secure environment.
Obviously, this is not all and it is not entirely easy to get away with it, otherwise we would not be facing a growing phenomenon that is progressively increasing its proportional weight within the totality of crime. The latest cybercrime data in Spain shows an increase of almost 32% of these events in 2020 compared to 2019.
