Cautionary Tales of Technological Slip-ups - Part Two

A warning against your buying from unknown sites

Many sites provide selling services, and people are perplexed about which sites to buy from, what means protect against sites and applications, and how to obtain guarantees. One of the best methods is to avoid buying from unknown sites that are not well known to the public. If it is truly necessary, then they should choose sites that provide the possibility of buying via the PayPal service or any similar service. This service, even if it takes a small fee from you and from the site for the service, is for your protection, for in the event of a mix-up and the site or application failing to fulfill the order, whatever it may be, you have the right to claim your money through PayPal, and they refund the amount to you in full. Among the benefits of using PayPal is that the site cannot withdraw more than the agreed amount, and this is an important additional advantage. It is worth noting that some sites deliberately enroll you in a monthly and annual withdrawal, so you must pay attention by reading the sale terms and heeding PayPal's instructions and warnings. You can also, through the control panel, prevent and shut down such services.

A warning against the warranty and quality of goods from electronic sites

E-commerce is strongly widespread in the region, and this is a nice and useful thing. But one of the biggest flaws in these sites is their reliance on sellers who sell within these platforms, and some platforms, very unfortunately, do not provide a mode for rating the goods or the seller, and serious errors often happen as a result of all this, including the arrival of goods that were not displayed and do not match the description. Sometimes the goods are used or intended for other countries, so they lack the electrical adapters approved in the country, which may lead to damage, or simply the Arabic language is not available in them, and the topic is lengthy. But the gist of the matter is: if you need to buy electronics, it is best to buy them from the sites of shops such as Sharaf DG, Jarir, Emax, Jumbo, and others, while adopting an extended warranty if you wish. As for other sites, the warranty in them is a problem, especially after-sales services with the majority, though not all.

A warning against buying a computer or laptop without an SSD of no less than 256 GB

Many complain about the slowness of their devices, even the new ones, and when we take a quick glance at them, we find that they lack one of the most important components, if not the most important in my view, namely the storage drive. This is one of the main factors in usage speed, and since most processors have become relatively high-powered, starting from Intel's eighth-generation processors up to the tenth generation and beyond, one of the most important components that everyone who wants to acquire a computer must ensure is that the storage drive is no less than 256 GB SSD. As for whoever's sun has already set on this, they can change the old drive and buy an SSD, which surpasses it in performance by starting from ten times the speed! The nice thing is that its prices have become within everyone's reach, and even installing this type in PlayStation 4 devices leads to noticeably faster game loading.

A warning against using poor-quality home devices 'IoT,' connected devices

You may have heard of the term 'Internet of Things,' which is not a correct term in my opinion. Originally, the name 'connected devices' is better from my point of view. Let us return to the important point: every Tom, Dick, and Harry has entered into these devices, and unfortunately protecting yourself from the faults and errors of these devices is a difficult matter. Therefore you must verify that the products are from reputable companies that care about updating and protection, in addition to the specifications. You might install 'connected lights' that are easily hacked, or even surveillance cameras, all the way to the fridge, speakers, electrical devices, and other 'connected devices.' To ensure your protection, isolate these devices on a separate subnetwork, or repeatedly verify the company and the security updates, for through the hacking of these 'connected devices' your personal computers could be reached, your home network spied upon, or it could be used to attack internet sites, as has happened previously.

A warning against sharing your personal data with strangers

Social engineering is a well-known concept for collecting data about you, or about the organization you work in, or personal, organizational, or even financial confidential information. Someone comes and asks questions you find simple, but which are in reality like the story of Little Red Riding Hood, to lure you into revealing information. So you must beware of those who fish in murky waters. Even simple information such as the name of your maternal grandfather, the city of birth, the date of birth, favorite friends, the name of your favorite country, the name of your favorite brand, and so on, all the way to the names of officials and the committees available, the extent of protection, the programs used at work, the flaws, problems, and disputes, and many devious means, as well as information about buying, selling, suppliers, and others. Be sharp and vigilant.

Ahmed Al Zarooni https://www.alroeya.com/article/2136297

Read Part One