Software Engineer Prof. Dr. Ali Okatan said, “WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram were hacked yesterday. This information may have been stolen, but they won't say so lest the stocks go down. Especially important information such as IBAN should not be shared on these platforms.
WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, which have millions of users around the world, collapsed yesterday. Commenting on the subject, Software Engineer Prof. Dr. Ali Okatan said, “These platforms were cyber-attacked yesterday. This information may have been stolen, but they won't say so lest the stocks go down. Users should be very careful when using platforms. Especially important information such as IBAN should not be shared on these platforms.
Instant messaging application WhatsApp and social media platforms Instagram and Facebook were reopened after a long access problem. Evaluating this worldwide problem, Istanbul Aydın University Engineering Faculty Software Engineering Department Head Prof. Dr. Ali Okatan said, “All of these platforms are great software. It is a piece of software that is formed by the combination of piecemeal software, especially in systems that we call distributed systems. I think these platforms have been cyberattacked. The information has also been received. Nobody will say that this information has been received because there will be big stock drops. Such a long-term failure is not a simple failure. "We know when the software won't work, and it's a cyber attack."
USERS DO NOT USE THESE PLATFORMS CAREFULLY
Comparing the system on the platforms to the door of a building, Prof. Dr. Okan said:
“There is a door that users enter on these platforms. That door is similar to the front door of a building where customers enter, and there is a back door in that building where materials come in. That door belongs to the owner of the platform. Users do not use their doors carefully, so you can ensure that all information is visible or not visible to everyone while you are making user settings, but many people do not care about this. The back door is also protected by passwords known to very limited people. Those hackers are breaking down those doors. They also stop the system while receiving information.”
THE EVENT THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY WAS THE FOREWORD OF THE FUTURE
Stating that this type of access problems can take up to 20 hours, Prof. Dr. Okatan said, “Actually, yesterday's events are the harbinger of the future. It can take months of re-start work. So you have to be very careful. We will experience such collapses in the future. As you develop the measures, the cyber attackers develop new methods accordingly. The information was probably stolen,” he said.
ALTERNATIVE PLATFORMS CAN BE PREFERRED
prof. Dr. Ali Okatan stated that users should follow their rights carefully.
Stating that users should authorize as many permissions as they need on platforms, Prof. Dr. Okatan said, “You should give permission when you need it. There isn't much to do for the back door. The only solution for this is to become a member of other alternative platforms and try them. If such platforms are essential for your operations, you should immediately prepare to switch to another platform. We have to use another platform as a backup because these situations can happen all the time, but they can also happen to those platforms. Information can always be retrieved and stolen,” he said.
USERS CAN DISTRIBUTE RISK
Expressing that users can distribute risks in messaging applications or social media, Prof. Dr. Okatan continued his words as follows.
“When making user settings, the application asks who you want to see it. You need to make settings so that this information does not fall into the hands of people who will misuse it. You can create a certain circle of friends, groups. You can secure yourself a little by granting access to only certain of those groups. It is necessary not to put every necessary unnecessary information and picture on social media. Otherwise, someone is using it maliciously, and then the court process begins. You cannot prevent the theft of passwords that will change the basic structure of the platforms. Platform owners are authorized for this. Cyber attacks are valid for every platform. We must disperse the risk as best we can. We have to move some information to different platforms and some to different platforms. If one of them is hacked, some of our information may be exposed, but others may remain. We do the same thing on computers so that information is not destroyed.”
DON'T SHARE IBAN ON WHATSAPP
Emphasizing that the IBAN is shared over the WhatsApp application and this puts some information at risk, Prof. Dr. Okatan said, “They may misuse personal information. You give an IBAN there. As such, your bank accounts are also known. People who know a little computer and software can do these. Instead of sharing financial, bank and private information on these platforms, SMS can be used. "No company is secure, and it's all software," he said.
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