Keeping you safer online is at the heart of everything we do. Today more than ever, cyberattacks are happening on a broader, global scale. The targets of these attacks are not just major companies or government agencies, but hospitals, energy providers, banks, schools and even individuals like you.
In 2022, password-related searches saw a 10-year-high interest in Password Manager, as searches grew by up to 70% in Malaysia compared to 2021. People also looked for useful tools including Random Password Generator, making it one of the top-trending security topics with an increased search of up to 60% last year.
Phishing (which comes in all formats – SMS, voice, email) and Malware are common topics across APAC, as we see high search interest in Malaysia, Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Particularly in Malaysia, searches for Voice Phishing have grown by up to 70% and SMS Phishing (Smishing) has increased by 50%.
Account security is top-of-mind as people are looking up topics related to Data Breach in 2022. Malaysia was also among the top 10 countries in the world searching for the topics Pod Slurping and Shoulder Surfing last year.
Meanwhile, here are the top trending searches related to cyber security in Malaysia for 2022:
- Hacker background
- What is malware?
- Hacker prank
- Best antivirus
- Security breach
- Trojan horse
- Cybersecurity
- Vulnerability
- DDoS attack
- How to hack wifi password?
How Google is helping you to stay safe online
Every day, we keep more users safe through industry-leading security technology, automatic built-in protections – blocking malware and phishing attempts, and ongoing vulnerability research and detection. Everyone from politicians and celebrities to everyday citizens run the risk of having their personal information stolen. That’s why Google has made security the cornerstone of our product strategy.
We want all of our users to have the best security protections in place — by default — across their devices and accounts. While we automatically protect users from a range of evolving threats, there are just a couple of small things we recommend that users do to be even safer:
- Take a Security Checkup, our quick step-by-step guide that gives you personalized and actionable recommendations that will instantly strengthen the security of your Google Account. It will also allow you to prepare your account for recovery, which is as simple as adding a phone number and a backup email to your account. Not only does this help us verify it’s you if you forget your password, but it also makes it harder for a bad actor to gain access to your account.
- Turn on 2SV (or we will!), as it makes all the difference in the event your password is compromised. Don’t just take our word for it; many in the private and public sectors are also rallying behind 2SV.
- Utilize Google Password Manager, which is built directly into Chrome, Android and the Google App. Password Manager helps create strong passwords for all your online accounts without the need to remember them, check if they’ve been involved in a breach and ensure you won’t fall victim to phishing attempts by verifying the authenticity of sign-in pages before logging you in. Even better, it’s convenient. Instead of typing passwords, especially on small mobile keyboards, you can simply press a button after the Password Manager fills in the password for you.
How families can use Google to manage online experiences
In Malaysia, screen time has been steadily rising. Unsurprisingly, more than 70% of parents allowed increased screen time for kids during the pandemic. And they’re turning to technology for daily activities from remote learning, starting a book, and learning a new language.
But conversations with children on online safety are not starting early enough – our ‘Kid & Families’ survey shows that there’s a three-year age gap from when a child gets their first mobile phone at 10 years old and when parents start talking to them about online safety at 13. And as technology rapidly evolves, it can be difficult for parents to find the most up-to-date information on online safety, possibly due to a case of not knowing where to start or finding it difficult to find the tools they need to help monitor and control their child’s online usage.
This could be risky for their children who’s at an age when they are most vulnerable to pitfalls and hard-to-break habits – which is why we design experiences and content to help kids, teens and families safely learn, grow and play across products and devices.
We’ve long enabled parents to supervise their children’s activity online with the ability to set screen time limits for each device or for specific apps, set content restrictions and manage app data permissions using Family Link. We have also expanded the Location tab where parents can see all of their children on the same map with their device location. Now, parents can also turn on notifications to be alerted when their child arrives at or leaves a specific destination like school or sports practice.
When it comes to protecting kids and families online, our default settings for engagement, content and how data is used help provide a safer, privacy preserving experience. These include the following existing and new settings and reminders for kids and teens:
- Play: Apps that include children in their target audience are required to meet a higher bar for how they use and disclose data they collect under our Families Policy. In the coming weeks, these apps will have the option to include a special badge in their Play Data safety section to let users know they follow our policies, helping parents make more informed decisions about the apps that are best for their families.
- Search: SafeSearch, which helps filter out explicit results when enabled, is on by default for all signed-in users under 18. We also provide minors control over their digital footprint — anyone under the age of 18 or their parent or guardian, can request the removal of their images from Google Image results.
- Ads: We prevent age-sensitive ad categories and block ad targeting based on the age, gender, or interests of people under 18.
- Location: Location Sharing is off by default for all users and we’ve limited the amount of time over which a user can share their location. Location History is also not stored for known users under the age of 18.
- YouTube: We introduced YouTube Kids in 2015, an app specifically designed for children below the age of 13. For teens who aren’t set up with a supervised experience on YouTube, autoplay is disabled, and bedtime and break reminders are on by default. Parents of pre-teens and teens can also set up a supervised experience with content settings and wellbeing features.
Empowering viewers of all ages to experience a safer internet on YouTube
Over the last few years, we’ve introduced a suite of tools to help you manage your time on YouTube, such as bedtime reminders and autoplay settings. Safer Internet Month is a great reminder to check your settings and make sure they’re still working for you. You can also access your data through the “Your Data in YouTube” page to view your activity and history, including comments that you’ve made. For parents and caregivers, we offer options to help them decide what’s best for their kids and are investing in new ways to improve these experiences.
Today’s kids will be lifelong users of technology, and ongoing education is important for their safety and long-term success. That’s why we launched our YouTube Kids playlist, ‘Build a Safer Internet,’ which you may see upon opening the YouTube Kids app. The playlist will feature content that raises awareness about the safe, responsible and positive use of technology for families. With kid-friendly tips, songs on internet safety and resources to talk about mindful screen time, these videos are meant to help parents and their families navigate the digital world.
