Online Privacy

Every day billions of people log onto the internet to surf the web, shop online, and manage financial accounts as well as to connect with friends and family.  The idea of such things as online banking and online stock trading are easy to do and save most people time from having to go to the bank or their broker’s office, but there is also an easy possibility for hackers to log on and steal that information from you.  For some, stealing a person’s bank log in information or even credit card numbers are just as easy as setting up the online account. 

When thinking of other ways online privacy comes into play, the main thing to think about is that whatever you put on the web, if someone wants to find it, they can.  One major thing these days most college students and sadly some high school students are afraid of is their school finding pictures of them drinking.  Most schools have a policy of no tolerance for drugs and alcohol on campus, and some students do partake in these activities and manage to get away with it.  Know with social media sites, if that student is involved with people doing these things even if they aren’t and someone takes pictures and posts them on their Facebook or Photo bucket account, schools can find them.  In Stonington, CT the board of education began modifying a policy on drugs and alcohol at school events and has expanded it to even out of school events and the weekends.  The major change in this policy is that the students can now be disciplined if they are seen in any of these photos where these illegal acts are taking place.

When I think about the friends I have and the things they put on their personal pages on Facebook, I wonder if they want future bosses or family members to see them hanging over a toilet throwing up.  The sad part is they think these profiles are set to private so no one other than their friends can see.  The realistic part is that if those pictures are posted on a friends profile that is not set to private it becomes very easy to access those photos.  It is also possible for employers to search your name on Google or Bing and find out any information posted about you.  I also wonder why people think that just because they untagged themselves from photos no one unwanted will be able to see them.  Your face and your name are all over the internet and in this day and age the best way to avoid any unwanted information leaking out is to not put it online at all.

Conflict in the Digital Age

War and conflict have been going on since the beginning of human kind.  Conflict between tribes in the Americas turned to wars between countries and the weapons used in war have changed as well. They developed from bow and arrows to riffles to nuclear bombs.  During the scare of the 1950s and 1960s the development of ARPANET, an intelligence network used to try and protect our country as well as a communication source, was the beginning of the internet as we know it.  With that development came the idea of cyber warfare. Bombs and guns are very real and deadly weapons, but being able to shut down an entire country from a complex worm or computer virus can be just as devastating. 
Think about it, air traffic control, sources of electricity and water, medical records, they are all maintained by computers.  Knowing how much I rely on my computer and my iPhone it scares me quite a bit to think of the damage that could be done to my technology.  If I go to the wrong website or open an unknown email it could not only ruin my software, but some viruses now of days can actually ruin the hardware. 

Most of us have a family member or friend that will open any email from sources they don’t know to “get a free vacation,” or join a Facebook group to “win a new designer handbag.” For most cyber warfare victims these actions can sign them up for unwanted spam or their Facebook account may be hacked, but if your friend or family members chooses the wrong one, the creator or the virus could shut down their entire hard drive.  More and more people these days have their financial records, business files and cherished family photos on their computers, so the threat of cyber warfare hits close to home.

In the bigger picture, many countries are struggling with ways to protect their government sites and classified information that can be hacked and leaked, or the bigger fear of being completely shut down.  Last month, a Newsweek article discussed what some countries such as Great Britain are doing to defend themselves from cyber warfare.  Knowing that anyone with an internet connection, in-depth computer knowledge, and a will to do some damage that can affect an entire country or multiple countries scares the living daylights out of me.  I wouldn’t call myself paranoid, but rather a realist.  Waging war is a business and I feel that there are people out there willing to pay good money to cause intense damage to others without ever having to physically shoot a gun or set off a bomb.

As far as protecting yourself from a possible cyber attack the best thing to do is pay attention to what you open on the web.  If you don’t know the source, don’t open it.  Keep in mind that the threat is very real, but it can be avoided if you play it smart.