How to avoid fake news & hoaxes
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The dangers of misinformation & how to outsmart fake news
The amount of misinformation that is spread on the web is staggering. It is
spread mainly via Websites, Social Networks, and Email. The Hot Topics for such
misinformation are Politics, Government Policies, Religion and various Scams and
Hoaxes. Research reveals false rumors really do travel faster and further than
the truth. What is important to understand is that sharing misinformation can
lead to fraudulent web sites and malware.
Social networking sites provide users with the capabilities to spread
information quickly to other users without confirmation of its truth. We tend to
take written information as truth and assume it is accurate unless we know for
certain that it is not. If we read something about a subject which we are not
very knowledgeable about, we assume that the author has the credentials to be
posting that information.
Malware from clickbait
The real trouble is that clickbait is often more than just a simple insult to
our intelligence - it can lead to real trouble like malware and scams that can
lead to identity theft or monetary loses. Often times clicking on a seemingly
harmless article will lead you to nothing more than a useless pop-up for a fake
video player or a fake survey, no article in sight. But if you click the link
and download the player or fill in the survey, you'll wind up with a PC full of
malware and viruses.
Prevention Tips:
Be cautious: Approach sharing and opening posts from friends as cautiously as
you would your emails. Social media can be a wonderful tool but it can be really
dangerous as well and it's beyond important to keep that in perspective. Another
good piece of advice is to never trust the links, especially those click bait
ones.
Be careful closing pop-ups: Closing a POP-UP by clicking the X can
inadvertently share the malicious code without your knowledge. This is why most
people that shared it say they never clicked on anything suspicious.
Here are some options in closing a POP-UP:
- Chrome on Windows or Mac: Shift + Esc, select the tab containing the
pop-up, then click "End Process".
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, select the web browser, then click
"End Task."
- Mac: Command + Option + Esc, select your web browser, then click "Force
Quit."
- Android: Press the square button at the bottom right corner of the
screen, then swipe all browser windows off the screen.
- iPhone: Double-press the home button (if you're using iPhone 6s, 3D
Touch press the left side of the screen), then swipe all instances of the
browser off the screen.
Another option: Since the popup is controlled by JavaScript, the best option
is to disable the execution of any scripts (by configuration or browser
add-ons). This will impact how most websites look and feel, however you can
always add sites to the exception list once you know they are safe.
The dangers of misinformation
We tend to take written information as truth and assume it is accurate unless
we know for certain that it is not. If we read something about a subject which
we are not very knowledgeable about, we assume that the author has the
credentials to be posting that information.
- Misinformation regarding drugs and health remedies have proven deadly
for many people around the world.
- Misinformation through sharing emails or social media spam can expose
you to fraudulent phishing web sites.
- Misinformation regarding investment advice has lead to personal
financial losses.
Tips for analyzing news sources
- Avoid websites that end in "lo" ex: Newslo. These sites take pieces of
accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or
misleading "facts" (sometimes for the purposes of satire or comedy).
- Watch out for websites that end in ".com.co" as they are often fake
versions of real news sources
- Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the
story. Sometimes lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and
other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting
on a topic or event.
- Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news.
- Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news
story is suspect and requires verification.
- Some news organizations are also letting bloggers post under the banner
of particular news brands; however, many of these posts do not go through
the same editing process (ex: BuzzFeed Community Posts, Kinja blogs, Forbes
blogs).
- Check the "About Us" tab on websites or look up the website on sites
like Wikipedia for more information about the source.
- Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the source
you're looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other
sources.
- If the story makes you really angry it's probably a good idea to keep
reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read
wasn't purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or
false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.
- If the website you're reading encourages you to DOX (researching and
broadcasting private or identifiable information about an individual or
organization), it's unlikely to be a legitimate source of news.
- It's always best to read multiple sources of information to get a
variety of viewpoints.
There is a role everyone should play in stopping the spread of rumors and
hoaxes. Misinformation and misleading or incorrect figures when presented as
facts and repeated frequently should be refuted before they become accepted as
genuine and used to promote specific agendas or spread malware.