¡Viva México! Finally! I’m herewith solemnly telling you why I, an Austrian veterinarian, ended up being a Communication of Development student at Malmö University in Sweden, living in Mexico.
Why I study Communication of Development? That was an easy decision! I take pleasure in communication of all forms, verbal, non-verbal, written, listening, visual, as long as you (practice to) speak from your heart and listen with your soul. These are the needed criteria to be receptive to knowledge, to obtain awareness, to really absorb new information so you can develop true wisdom since emerged from you. This will get you closer to yourself and this is, in my opinion, the only chance for social change.
Communication for social change
And why I live in Mexico? Well, it just happened! This was neither planned nor on my bucket list as my anti-Mexican bias – heat, cactus, sombrero, drugs, corruption, terrible soap operas – hadn’t made this country too attractive to me. But I had been living in the US for two and a half years, all the time on this bloody tourist visa that forced me to leave the country every six months. To combine the inevitable with the useful, I, during my US-breaks, volunteered with several NGOs in various countries and I enjoyed going to meet the unknown and to be challenged in new projects. Through this I’ve learned so much about life, the world I live in, and most of all: about myself.
In January 2019 once again it was time to pack my bag and I decided to volunteer with an NGO I thought that was great – although it’s been located in this very Mexico.
And what should I say? One year, nine months and twenty days later I’m still there, in Mexico, not with the NGO, and totally enthused by this beautiful country (I love the climate as much as the cactus) and it’s wonderful people (most of them are neither drug dealer nor corrupt), and there are even acceptable soap operas.
¡Viva México!
And just last week I had an experience I’d like to tell you about. Last week I helped a friend to set up her Zoom account, and as a result, I now know the password of her, account. Actually, I know the passwords of all of her accounts since she uses the same safe word for each and every occasion.
“It’s very easy to remember,” she tells me happily smiling, “it’s June11, my birthday.”
“June11?” I ask. “Have you ever given a second thought to identity theft?”
This question provokes a short break.
Well, she hasn’t.
Have you?
The victims are typically left with damage to their credit, finances, and reputation
Identity thieves steal and use your personal information to commit fraud. With your name, birthdate, address, credit card number, bank account number the thief will make unauthorized transactions or purchases. Your data is also used to obtain free medical care. Or, maybe even more unpleasant, a drug dealer might get prescription drugs in your name.
“Does that mean, somehow, that if I don’t use secure passwords, I’m kind of the drug dealer’s assistant?” my friend asks.
“Well,” I respond, “maybe he doesn’t use your data to get drugs. Maybe he has a weakness for bank heists, and when caught he gives your name to the police during the arrest.”
However, maybe the criminal isn’t so much into drugs nor into bank robberies, but still, he can use your personal information to commit fraud, for example, he could file a tax refund in your name and get your refund.
“But, Kristina, what about gender equality? You always write of “him” committing all these frauds.”
Ooops! Sorry!
“Anyway, you have to create not only a strong password but a completely unique one for every account you use,” I urge my friend. “It should contain at least 8 characters, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols to succeed that it is not easily guessed and not easily cracked by a hacking program.”
She nods hesitantly. “But how on earth will I remember all these unique and complex passwords?”
True, on average people have to remember about 200 passwords (according to a report from LastPass in 2017). To help me in this password jungle my solution is a password manager. I personally use LastPass which stores all of my login information and carries out my logins automatically.
Just be aware. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
In addition to your super-password you should also be aware to only follow links if they come from a trustworthy source and don’t open suspicious attachments. And you shouldn’t react to phishing emails, even if, hmm, or especially if you actually won the sum of 1,500,000 USD. And if you do want to communicate with the scammer, you might want to do it the hilarious way James Veitch did. Please watch this amazing TED-Talk (which surprisingly isn’t to be found anymore on the official TED-Talk page…but nothing gets lost on the World Wide Web and I’ve found a copy on YouTube…)
Featured image: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/photos/background”>Background photo created by jcomp – www.freepik.com</a>
Kristina, thanks showcasing this topic. Identity theft on digital platforms is a very serious issue. I also try to avoid clicking strange links or texts from unknown numbers. But, even I’ve been tricked by those crafty phishing strategies as well as other people in my organization. Having a password manager is a good idea.