E-Business
Safer Internet Day 2024: Proactive Steps for Personal Data Protection
Safer Internet Day 2024 comes amid data fears about limited access imposed on various popular apps, causing users to circumvent the new rules by downloading replacements.
In an era where vast amounts of data is constantly being collected and analysed, the risks of data breaches, identity theft, and invasions of privacy are more pronounced than ever.
So, on February 6 – the day recognised annually as a vital reminder of the importance of safeguarding personal information in our digitised world – Kaspersky’s experts are emphasising the critical need for users to be proactive about their data security.
In 2023, debates were sparked in several countries regarding the restriction of certain popular apps in Brazil, Ireland and Japan. In the USA deliberations on restricting access to TikTok resulted in limitations of the Chinese app on government-issued devices in more than half of the states.
But customers are not always willing to give up their favourite apps when it comes to popular services. Facing prohibitions, users resorted to alternative means of accessing content, such as installing replacement apps or bootlegged copies.
The imitation downloads used by those trying to evade the restrictions are often poorly developed, with nebulous privacy policies or they violate users’ rights altogether.
Additionally, many of these applications tend to disappear after a while for various reasons such as insufficient numbers of users, which means sensitive data might end up in the hands of third parties.
To avoid such unpleasant scenarios, Kaspersky experts shared several tips:
- There is no need to rush when it comes to installing anything on your devices.
Discussions regarding any limitations on an app do not necessarily lead to its prohibition. Rushing to find an alternative may mean you are putting your information at risk, as these types of apps or pirated copies of services may not care enough about the safety of users’ personal data. Before installing anything unverified on any devices, it’s always worthwhile to weigh out the pros and cons. Official app stores always remain the best and safest option.
- It’s always a good idea to learn about your privacy rights.
A good place to start is to learn more about your country’s legislation governing customer rights and the processing of personal data.
Then, when reading the privacy policy of the app, it’s important to check if they are respecting users’ rights and whether they are collecting only the data that they are entitled to. Also make sure it’s possible to contact customer services and ask them to delete personal information.
- Data oversharing is not a safe option.
It’s always better to minimise the amount of data an app collects about you as there’s a risk of inadvertent disclosure or misuse of personal data due to insufficient data security measures. Moreover, once personal data is shared, it’s often difficult to control its distribution and use, potentially leading to long-term privacy issues.
To prevent such issues, consider limiting the access to the photo feed, contacts, and location to the apps that can function without it. This also applies to the microphone: limited access will ensure applications don’t collect personal data while overhearing what you say.
- Modern security solutions can keep personal data safe online.
Modern security solutions can block apps from accessing personal information, alert users if their phone numbers and other data have been leaked and warn them if a malicious file has been downloaded. There are also services that help to improve the security of personal data by following simple instructions.
“Restricting popular apps has become a more frequent practice than it used to be. Users looking for a replacement do not always get a quality app with a transparent privacy policy. Knowing users’ rights and paying attention to who and how the app collects data can help prevent personal information from falling into the wrong hands,” comments Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky.
Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.
The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.
In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.
Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
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