The Art of the ‘Crafty’ Hack: A Parent’s Guide to Outsmart a Computer
Global internet use has been steadily rising with more than 67% of the world’s population participating in the activity. However, common problems also occur with computer use. The inability to access an account or a website can drive users crazy. For parents who want to access their own accounts or investigate the online activities of their kids, a crafty hack is a way to beat machines that just wouldn’t cooperate. Here are smart ways to outsmart a computer crafting clever solutions to get a machine do what we want it to do.
Computer Shortcuts
Who doesn’t like getting things done as quickly as possible? For parents who seem to have little time to do everything in a day, sneaky shortcuts on the computer are literal life savers. Sure, a mouse and menus are intuitive for new users, but they can be slow and repetitive for common tasks. Shortcuts, particularly keyboard shortcuts, allow you to perform actions with a simple, quick command. This reduces the need to constantly move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse navigating through menus and clicking multiple times.
For example, to copy and paste text, you would have to select the text with your mouse or track board then select copy from the menu, move your cursor to a new location, click again, then select paste. With a Mac shortcut, you simply press Ctrl + C to copy then Ctrl + V to paste the text. Shortcuts improve workflow, increase accuracy and accessibility and promote ergonomics. Busy moms and dads can save a lot of time with sneaky shortcuts, time that they can use to relax or spend with the kids. Even Hollywood is not spared from using hacks to illustrate specific scenes and plots as close to reality as possible. These can range from ransomware attacks on a hospital to accessing root kits of a website or intercepting traffic over a secure port. Certain scenes are depicted realistically to enhance understanding and relatability for a broad audience. Films that make an effort for their technical accuracy and for correctly portraying the reality of cybersecurity are appreciated by the audience.
Understanding Human Behavior
Often, the most effective hacks do not involve any knowledge of coding at all. They entail a keen understanding of human behavior, an element that is often overlooked. Did you forget your password to one of the numerous sites you have signed up to? The University of Strathclyde reports that the average person has 150–200 online accounts, and this figure is rising. It is not easy to keep track of all the online accounts we have from banking and shopping sites to social and work platforms. Unless you have the habit of writing down each password, chances are high that you won’t remember or distinguish one from the other. Even a password manager won’t be able to help you if you’re using another device or a public computer. However, if you designed your security questions so that you know the answer by heart, then it should not be difficult to gain access to your account. After all, who can forget their first car, first crush, or mother’s middle name?
If you’re trying to access your child’s account, then this might be a different story. They might create a password based on their favorite TV characters, their best friend’s name, the famous lines of their movie heroes, and so on. You might try the ‘forgot password’ function, but unless you can get into your child’s email account this might not work. As a parent, there will be instances though that you must help your offspring in securing their accounts especially social media ones. Educate your children that online attackers use social engineering tactics that rely on trust, deception, and psychological triggers to trick potential victims into performing actions they normally wouldn’t. Attackers prey on emotions like fear, curiosity, or a sense of urgency to break down digital defenses and security systems. To illustrate, phishing is the most well-known social engineering attack which works by sending a fraudulent email, text message or communication that appears to be from a legitimate source like friends or even a school telling users that their accounts will be locked if they don’t click on a link which will force them to reveal sensitive info like login credentials and other details.
In the end, the art of the crafty hack is about reminding ourselves that we are smarter than the devices we use. It’s about teaching us and our children that technology is a tool and with a little creativity and an understanding of human behavior, we can make it work for us not against us.