“Never access your official emails from your personal devices and vice versa,” said S.N. Ravichandran of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) at the District Collector’s office today. ”Work from home concept is a huge blunder when it comes to data security,” he added.

As part of the Cyber Security Awareness Week-2015, an awareness session for the officials was held at the Collectorate today. While addressing the officials, Ravichandran said: “It’s glad that Coimbatore is selected for upgradation as a smart city. But when talking about smart cities, a huge amount of personal and sensitive data is involved. The Information technology act 72A states that if any personal and sensitive information is disclosed, the person responsible can be punished. Hence the need for a security policy is high.”

He stressed upon the need for implementing user account controls and maintaining activity logs for a minimum of two years.

“Password sharing is one thing everyone must stop doing right away. Use a password combination which has alphanumeric and special characters. Make sure you change your passwords every 45 days. Never use common passwords like name of your pet or birthdays and anniversaries,” he warned.

He then threw light on the importance of monitoring children when they use the internet and smartphones. “One has to make sure what one posts and shares on social media. Photos, education details, age, birthday everything is being shared without any knowledge of the consequences that could come. Not just women, even men are vulnerable when it comes to social media,” he said.

Ravichandran then spoke about online banking and ATM transactions and the possible risks involved. “If you’re accessing your bank account through your smartphone, I can easily exploit it. That’s how safe mobile banking and online banking are. You can secure yourself, but how can you be sure that the bank is secured?” he questioned.

“Discard those calls immediately that ask for you date of birth, mother’s maiden name. Never disclose your pin numbers to those calls that ask for it, claiming to be calling from the bank. No bank asks for pin numbers. Also never receive e-statements for your accounts,” he cautioned.