The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) had introduced the National Men’s Health Action Plan (2018-2023) to bring to light the importance of paying attention to men’s health. The life expectancy of men in Malaysia is almost five years less than women, 72.7 years compares to 77.4 years for women.
MOH also shared the data that men have harder times demonstrating their mental state of health compared to women. According to Kristina Barger, an expert in remote team management and psychological wellbeing, it is harder to notice the mental health symptoms for men as they usually are more silent and secretive about their struggles.
“The global health crisis greatly impacts our mental health. It has been a huge cause of stress and increased feelings of vulnerability. This is because our basic human need for security, as stated in Maslow’s pyramid, has been threatened. We have switched working and other activities at home, in turn lessening our leisure time, social activities, and the possibility of disconnecting,” says Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.
Welcome to Cyber Spa
Just as most of us actively use online tools in all spheres of life, Kaspersky develops technology to help take care of one’s mental wellbeing. Dubbed as Cyber Spa, it is a unique digital space where users can practice various online relaxation techniques aimed at helping them handle digital stress and anxiety.
When entering Cyber Spa, visitors can choose which tool can benefit them the most at that moment. There is also an option to go through a diagnostic test to find out one’s overall stress level. After the test, the platform offers a set of relaxation techniques in the most suitable sequence.
Modern fathers
The vast majority of fathers feel responsible both for the financial maintenance of their families and their IT needs, including cybersecurity.
Fathers are more inclined to let their kids use gadgets from a very early age, according to a previous Kaspersky study. Fathers believe the internet has a positive effect on their children – on their physical and mental condition, their performance at school, their future profession and on their life in general.
In addition, when it comes to gadgets, fathers are more likely to buy them for their children so that they are not treated as outsiders.
“Fathers, and each and every one of us, are still learning to balance life with increased dependence on technology. Although our devices and the internet are tools that empower us, these should also be used mindfully to avoid potential burnout. At Kaspersky, we believe that our digital wellbeing should be everyone’s priority, especially at this challenging time. With Cyber Spa, we hope to offer a virtual way to relax and take a breather every once in a while,” adds Yeo.
To help men-of-the-family keep their homes safe from cyberattacks, Kaspersky has the following tips:-
- Use antivirus and internet security software at home – antivirus suites take the hard work off your hands by offering automatic security against a host of threats including malware, spyware, viruses, trojans, worms, phishing scams, zero-day attacks.
- Keep family members away from work devices – password protects your work devices to prevent third parties from accessing your office files.
- Invest in a sliding webcam cover – savvy hackers can easily access the webcam without permission, compromising your privacy.
- VPN – no matter how strong the virtual private network is when a password is compromised, it will give hackers access easily, so update your password regularly, too.
- Centralize storage solution – back up necessary files in the event of your local files being compromised, lost, or destroyed.
- Secure home Wi-Fi – create a strong, unique password, rather than relying on the automatic password the router came with. Also consider changing the SSID, to make it difficult for third parties to identify and access the WiFi network.
- Strong and secure password – make sure your passwords are long, strong, and unique, with at least 12 characters that are a mix of numbers, symbols, capital and lower-case letters. We recommend using a password manager tool to help keep all passwords secure.
- Protect online banking – it is essential to use only accredited software and services to handle online banking. Make sure to log on via a Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (https://).
- Be wary of email scams and email security – phishing attacks that appear to be taking an ever-growing number of forms.
