Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
08 October 2020 Photo Istock
Whatsapp security
It is important to be safe when using WhatsApp. Do not leave your phone unattended when you are not close by.

There are 2 billion WhatsApp users in the world, and 1,6 billion WhatsApp users access their accounts on a daily basis.

However, it is important to also be safe when using this popular communication tool.

According to Cobus van Jaarsveld, Assistant Director: Threat Detection, Investigations and Liaison in Protection Services, it does happen that people’s WhatsApp accounts get hacked; this is a serious violation of privacy.

“It means a third party now has unlimited access to your personal chats, information, media – and in some instances, they can also masquerade as you by deleting your chats, replying to your chats, and committing crimes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of how harmful it can be to get hacked,” says Van Jaarsveld.

He adds: “Hackers can access your WhatsApp data by various means, e.g. via WhatsApp web or registering your number on another device.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) provided the following tips to prevent one’s WhatsApp from getting hacked:

• Log out from all computers that you see in the list under WhatsApp Web. This will stop hackers from further reading your chats. However, this should be done every time you use WhatsApp web.
• Do not leave your phone unattended when you are out.
• Lock all your apps to prevent unknown people from accessing your apps.
• Do not connect your phone to unknown Wi-Fi connections, as hackers can also use the unique MAC address to access all your WhatsApp chats.
• In case your WhatsApp has already been hacked, deactivate your account by emailing support@whatsapp.com. Your account will be automatically deleted if not accessed for 30 days.
• Enable two-step verification under your WhatsApp account settings. This will add an extra layer of security to the app.
• Lock WhatsApp. It is imperative to have the AppLocker that will help you lock your WhatsApp. While WhatsApp does not offer this application per se, you can download it and the app will facilitate the use of your WhatsApp with a password or PIN. This will help to prevent anyone who has access to your phone from accessing your WhatsApp account, since they will require a password to open it.

News Archive

Faculty celebrates growth in research outputs
2007-06-21

 

The Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) has achieved more than a third of the growth in accredited research outputs of the entire university for 2006. The faculty's average accredited outputs for 2006 increased remarkably as compared to the period 2000-2005. Nine of the research articles were presented as papers during a research day held recently to celebrate this achievement. Some of the people attending the celebrations, were from the left, front: Prof. Frikkie Booysen (Department of Economics), Prof. Doreen Atkinson (Centre for Development Support), Ms Marina Marinkov (Department of Economics), Ms Ekaete Samson-Akpan (Department of Business Management), Prof. Helena van Zyl (Director: School of Management), Ms Igna du Plooy, (Research Co-ordinator); back:Prof. Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor), Prof. Moses Sindane (Departement of Public Management), Prof. Rudolph van Buuren (Department of Business Management), Prof. Lucius Botes (Director: Centre for Development Support), Prof. Coen Bester (Department of Industrial Psycology), Prof. Lochner Marais (Centre for Development Support) and Prof. Cobus Rossouw (Centre for Accounting).
Photo: Supplied

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept