Kaspersky Lab Launches Awards Campaign to Increase Awareness on Internet Safety

Kaspersky Lab has launched a campaign in Asia Pacific to educate the public and spread awareness on Internet safety. Known as the Goondus Awards, the campaign is inviting submissions from the public on Internet mistakes and faux pas that have led to reputational, financial or property damage or loss for individuals.

Goondu is a Singlish (Singapore-English) word used informally to indirectly suggest that a person is dim-witted or senseless. The Goondus Awards website, which features the submissions anonymously, highlights real life incidents where a naïve or ill-informed Internet practice led to some form of misfortune.

“We want to educate people about safer Internet behaviors and to showcase real-world examples of missteps leading to some form of loss or damage. While some stories may be humorous and even incredulous, the repercussions and damage were real and in some cases severe,” explained Sylvia Ng, General Manager, Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia. “As our entries are entirely anonymous, we’re encouraging a community-led campaign to drive home the message that only safe practices will make the Internet safer for users.”

The Goondus Awards showcases a wide array of stories ranging from humorous occurrences to unintelligent acts and sad episodes involving monetary or reputational loss. The campaign acts as an initiative to raise cybersecurity awareness in an engaging form through the sharing of personal stories. It also serves to help web visitors foster positive and pleasant online experiences.

With the ease of access to the Internet, users have developed a sense of complacency or even a mild form of naivety in their daily digital lives, potentially lending themselves to becoming victims of cybercrime.

The Goondus Awards aim to remind users that they are not completely safe from cybercriminals and that they need to be vigilant, practice and maintain Internet etiquette to protect themselves.

One classic example of an effective online trick in the Philippines is through valid-looking emails with a warning about an error on a user’s bank account. The letter, complete with bank logo and well-written sentences, contains a link that will then ask the victim to enter his bank information. Once the clueless victim encodes his details, his account will be put in jeopardy and will eventually lead to financial loss.

Submission and contest details

The criteria for the story entries are that they must be based on actual events leading to tangible or intangible losses concerning Internet use. The winning stories will be selected by a panel of judges where participants stand a chance of winning an iPad Mini or a Tablet and even monthly prizes like a Kaspersky Lab premiums hamper. The website also includes tips and advice from cyber security experts and elaborations on the different types of scams such as Internet love sex scams, credit for sex scams and phishing scams, to further inform users.

The latest cybercrime statistics from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) revealed a rise in the number of online incidents in the Philippines which include online libel with 494 complaints last year as compared to 2015’s 311.

Online scams are also alarmingly increasing with a new record-high of 444 reported incidents in 2016, 110 more compared to 334 of 2015. Among the top 5 reported online violations last year are identity theft, online threats, and violation of the anti-photo and video voyeurism act.