Cybercrime is criminal activities carried out by computers on the internet. Unfortunately, plenty of people are reckless when dealing with cybercrime. According to AT&T, “Up to 73% of users reuse passwords for their online accounts.” The following tips can help protect you from cybercrime. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) had four useful tips on how to stay safe online. The first tip is to implement multifactor authentication on your accounts. Having more information proving that the accounts are really yours makes it harder for your accounts to get hacked. The second tip is that you should always keep your software up to date. The easiest way to manage this is to turn on automatic updates for all your software. Third, is to think before you click on something. More than 90% of successful cyber-attacks start with a phishing email. Make sure the email comes from a credible source, and do not click on anything you do not trust. The fourth and final tip is to use strong passwords. Ideally, you should use a password manager to generate and store unique passwords.  

The second article is from the cybersecurity team from AT&T. This article is about five ways to prevent cyber-crime: how to avoid becoming a victim. The first tip is to use a current antivirus system and accept updates after you receive an official notification. The second tip is to never use the same password on different websites. You should try to complicate them with different symbols and numbers. You should not choose your name or date of birth in passwords. The next tip is to strengthen your security system by using a security system (firewall), this helps prevent unwanted traffic. The fourth tip is to pay attention to your web camera LED indicators (they are red on external devices and blue on laptops). You want to make sure your camera is on only when you are using it. The fifth and final tip is to be cautious with strangers over the internet. People can pose as on online tech support, when really it is someone else trying to get access to your computer.  

ESCAPE Analysis 

https://www.cisa.gov/4-things-you-can-do-keep-yourself-cyber-safe

E – The CISA website is a very credible and reliable source of information. It does not have an author listed, but it is published by a government website. Lots of these tips line up with other sources.  

S – This article was published by the CISA (Cybersecurity and infrastructure Security Agency), which is a U.S. government agency. The CISA works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborates to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. This agency has only been around for four years; however, this is the most reliable source of information I could find.  

C – The big picture is that they want more people to be aware of online threats and make sure that people have their information as secure as possible. With information more accessible to hackers than ever, people need to make sure they are taking the proper precautions when using the internet.  

A – The intended audience is anyone who has personal information online. Anyone with internet access can be potentially threatened by a cyberattack. This article is to make people aware of the dangers online and make sure they are taking measures to protect their information.  

P – This article was published to make people aware of online threats and how to defend against them.  

E – the information was presented in a concerned/informative way. This makes you think about the online dangers as threats, it makes you want to take all the correct measures for protection.  

ESCAPE Analysis 

https://cybersecurity.att.com/blogs/security-essentials/how-to-avoid-becoming-a-victim-of-cybercrime-5-tips

E – The facts in this article hold up. They are like the ones listed by the CISA.  

S – This article is published by Jake Lester, a writer for the security team at AT&T. AT&T is a large provider on the internet, so I would take the information from them as reliable. 

C – The big picture of this article is to keep people the same on the internet. They give recommendations so that you can stay as safe as possible when browsing the web. 

A – The intended audience is anyone with internet access. They made the article easy to read as well as informative.  

P – this was made to help people prevent online attacks. These tips help keep peoples personal information safe and take all the precautions necessary.  

E – This information is presented in a concerned and informative tone, just like the CISA article. This article leaving you thinking, “What more can I do to protect myself online?”   

Facebook is failing to protect user data. Facebook decided not to notify over 530 million of its users whose personal data was lifted in a breach sometime before August 2019 and was recently made available in a public database (April 2021).  

According to NPR.org, “Phone numbers, full names, locations, some email addresses, and other details from user profiles were posted to an amateur hacking forum.” This contains data from users in 106 different countries. The information did not include people’s financial or health information or passwords, Facebook said. However, the data leak still leaves users vulnerable. Scammers can do an incredible amount even with the little information they have. Especially since the two-factor authentication, where users use their phone number to authenticate their accounts and get alerts from Facebook.  

According to BBC News, “An internal Facebook email, accidentally sent to Belgium-based Data News, ha revealed its strategy for dealing with the leaking of account details from 533 million users.” It suggests that Facebook expected more of these incidents, and their plan was to frame it as an industry problem that is a normal occurrence. Facebook said that the memo was genuine, and they are taking extra precautions to prevent this from happening in the future. Facebook stated that this data is old, however it now faces a probe from the Irish data commissioner. It may have broken General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, and there is a mass legal action from affected EU citizens. These people had their user information leaked, as well as phone numbers. Even a couple of years after the incident, Facebook’s users are still having issues caused by this major leak.  

In conclusion, Facebook is prioritizing themselves over its users. Facebook has not claimed any wrongdoing, stating that all the information scrapped from the site is publicly available. However, this is not an excuse for the leak. Leaking hundreds of millions of phone numbers is a violation of users’ privacy, as well as a violation of national security.  

ESCAPE Analysis NPR.org 

E: Evidence – Do the facts hold up?  

This source has a lot of verifiable information. They take information from Facebook itself, the NSA (National Security Agency), and multiple cybersecurity experts. 

S: Source – Who made this, and can I trust them?  

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/09/986005820/after-data-breach-exposes-530-million-facebook-says-it-will-not-notify-users

This source is an article published by NPR.org. This source is trustworthy, NPR is an extremely popular and accurate source of information. They include citations in their work and include multiple sources of information in each article.  

C: Context – What’s the big picture? 

The big picture here is that in a time where cybersecurity is becoming more and important, huge social media platforms are failing to protect user information. Not only do people risk losing their accounts, but they also risk their own privacy and safety.  

A: Audience – Who is the intended audience?  

The intended audience is anyone with a Facebook account and anyone who has invested in Facebook itself. This leak influences everyone involved with the platform, whether it is a Facebook account or whether you are tied in financially.  

P: Purpose – Why was this made? 

This article was written to inform the public about what exactly happened with the leak, and to provide more information on the subject. It is also to spread awareness, making users aware of the possible consequences.  

E: Execution – How is this information presented? 

The tone of this article is more of a critique. The article is not trying to protect Facebook in any way, it is trying to inform on the situation and provide more background to give users a better understanding of what they are dealing with.  

ESCAPE Analysis BBC.com 

E: Evidence – Do the facts hold up?  

The facts hold up with this source. It contains much of the same statistics as the NPR article and gathers information from many of the same places. It contains sources like Facebook itself, and GDPR.  

S: Source – Who made this, and can I trust them?  

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56815478

BBC News is a very trustworthy source of information. They are a very neutral source of information, considering both sides of each argument. They included statements from Facebook itself and communities around the world to paint the whole picture.  

C: Context – What’s the big picture? 

The big picture in this article is that Facebook is putting its reputation over its users. This does not give them the best look, considering Facebook had hundreds of millions of users from across the world. They want people to have more knowledge of the situation so that they can make more informed decisions.  

A: Audience – Who is the intended audience?  

The intended audience is anyone with a Facebook account and anyone who has invested in Facebook itself. This leak influences everyone involved with the platform, whether it is a Facebook account or whether you are tied in financially. 

P: Purpose – Why was this made? 

This article is written to inform the public and all Facebook users. I think that the purpose of this is also to criticize Facebook for putting themselves first over its users.  

E: Execution – How is this information presented? 

The tone of the article is to talk down to Facebook, they want to bring up issues that most people do not think about it. Half of the article talks about how Facebook prioritizes themselves, which clearly implies a specific tone when reading.