How good are you at spotting subtle differences? You do not need perfect vision but a certain level of concentration is required. There are 5 differences in each photo, and we welcome you (and your family and friends) to take up our Spot the Difference challenge! Set a time limit (say 20 seconds) just for the fun of it! Let’s begin!
Game 1: The Cat and Dices
Did you manage to spot all 5 differences? We tried this out in our office and many of us could only spot 4 differences! Interestingly, the URL was overlooked in most cases. According to psychologists, this is called change blindness, which occurs when our brains notice big details but fail to zoom in on elements that are deemed unimportant.
If you happen to be like us and overlooked the URL, do be mindful when surfing the Internet because this means you could be a potential victim to phishing websites. For your information, phishing is a method of trying to gather personal information using deceptive e-mails and websites.
In 2017, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore reported 23,420 phishing URLs with a Singapore-link detected! As we advance towards our Smart Nation goal, let’s look into adopting some of these simple and practical cyber security measures!
Game 2: Alphabets
This is a fairly simple game, and we hope you managed to spot all 5 differences! On a side note, how many words can you come up with these alphabets? ‘Cyber security’ stays at the top of our mind, and in order to ‘rise’ from ‘cyber threats’, it is important to stay alert!
#TiqOurWord A Personal Cyber Insurance can insure you and your family from cyber security breaches. Learn how you can stay safe online here.
Game 3: Sturdy Bicycle
“Once we do see the disparity, it gets stored as one of the obvious elements, and then we can’t seem to unsee it.” – Dan Simons, psychologist
These two images look really similar, and the URL (in the right image) contains the string “accounts.sturdywheel.co”, which makes it look almost legitimate… … until one notices the extra text before the address. We’re pretty sure you spotted the URL this time round but did you manage to spot the rest of the differences?
Do not panic if you have accidentally clicked a phishing link. At times, you could land on a phishing website by mistyping the web address. Study the URL carefully and look for red flags like grammar errors and missing characters. If you are unsure about the website, do not sign in. Close your browser and retype the URL in a new browser.
#TiqOurWord You may want to use a Web browser with anti-phishing detection. The free plugins can be easily installed but do ensure the source is reliable before any installation.
Game 4: Picnic in the Woods
This is the last image of our Spot the Difference game. We hope you enjoyed the trivial game and have a better idea of how to identify a fake website from the real. All you need to do is to focus, and avoid going on auto-pilot mode.
“They say that the average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now. That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average goldfish.” – BBC News
Despite the statistics given by various sources on how human attention span has shrunk to 8 seconds, it is not impossible for individuals to stay focused, if they want to. Happy surfing, and stay safe online!
Information is accurate as at 19 March 2019.
