Overtrusting Technology, the CYBER THREAT

We love Technology. That is an undeniable fact. The fact that everyday we log onto our Facebook and check our emails whether computer of phone points to this important fact. However, as we increasingly spend time on the Internet, we give valuable information in the form of our names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. In addition, we communicate with many of our important contacts via social media and emails.

So what happens when a hacker gets into your account? Imagine your entire contact list copied into the hands of the evil perpetrator. Your credit card information. Your address. What can this person do? Basically anything. He or she can stalk you. He or she can use your credit card. If you do your banking online, well, adios to your precious savings. They can also blackmail you threatening to sell you information to who knows who. And even if you pay, there is no guaranteed they haven't. However, worst of all, he knows who knows you. So when you think you've just been screwed enough, he or she can pull up your contacts in your email and your phone contacts and start digging into their lives.

It is important for us to morally educate ourselves in the processes of our computer dependent world in how to secure our information. Whether it is frequent password changing, use of complex passwords, avoiding syncing your phone to your account, these are steps all of us must consider if we want our information to remain private and secure from curious eyes. However, even if we follow these rules, there is never any guarantee they will completely secure our data. As seen with the numerous leaked documents, leaked celebrity photos, and email scandals the past year, everything has a flaw. And more and more hackers are finding more ways to break our encryption faster than our government and security professionals can keep up. Since there are an uncountable number of ways to find and create a breach in a system, we cannot defend without knowing which one will be used. As such, it is important to realize that for all of us, what goes on the Internet is not only forever, but also adding your data into a breakable security structure.