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Hello Internet! Goodbye Privacy!

Nowadays, everyone is on the internet, especially because of social media. We are all status updating, sharing where we are at, who we are friends with, what gym we go to, what our favorite show on Netflix is and so on. The internet is forever, nothing that you post (even if you delete it) goes away, and everything that you think is private and secure in your files can be hacked into and obtained. You think your information is safe because your password includes the dollar sign and a few numbers? We’re sorry to say you are going to have to think again.  

Everyone’s private information is now jeopardized because of how public people are on social media, the oh-so easiness of hacking, and the permanence of the internet. People’s private data are no longer secure, which means there is a much larger potential to the widespread and abuse of that information.

We are going to discuss how you can be keeping personal information private, the effortless guide to cyber crime, and ways to protect yourself and your information on social media.

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Everyone In The World Is On The World Wide Web.

Everyone, including your grandmother, is on the internet. 

Social media alone is a major factor as to why people are constantly on the internet. Last year alone, it was reported that 2.65 billion people around the world used some type of social media. Your friends are on there as well as your teachers, your parents, and even your grandparents. We are all using some form of social media and the internet.

It is projected that 3.1 billion will be on social media in 2021. Is that not insane? There are about 500 million users active on Instagram daily. Everyone in the world is using the internet.

On top of this, companies are on the internet as well. However, security breaches happen a little too often. In 2018, 43% of businesses fell victim to some sort of security breach. Even the great state of California lost $214 million dollars to a cyber crime. But of course this is an issue! How could it not be when 21% of files are not protected. In 2017, 780k records were lost per day. At this rate, cyber crime is estimated to cost $6 trillion by 2021. This represents the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history, risks the incentives for innovation and investment, and will be more profitable than the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined. 

With everyone on the internet nowadays, it is becoming a new norm for society. We post what we eat, where we are going, who we used to know, and companies are using it to correspond with each other. As of January 2019, 7.676 billion people were using the internet. The World Wide Web is amazing, but it’s also dangerous so we must be careful with what we put on it and how we use it!

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Cybercrime: Not Crazy Complicated

Hackers do not need to be extremely brilliant and gifted with expensive black market technology and wearing sketchy looking hoodies and large black backpacks. They could be the nice girl at the coffee shop or your extremely friendly next-door neighbor. Cyber crime is easy to commit. The truth of the matter is hacking is easy and cheap. 78% of all issues are related to tricking an end user into doing something, such as clicking on a link in an email. This is called phishing. The term is associated with fraudulent activities and stealing personal information on the web. Have you ever received an email from a young king from Arendelle, claiming that you are their long lost heir to the throne, and he wants you to email your bank information over so he can send you your ten million dollar inheritance? If so, you have received a phishing email. 

To protect yourself, never ever send your confidential information about your account in an email. No social security numbers, bank account information, home addresses, nothing! Even if it’s an email claiming to be a handsome prince in a far off land or your sixth removed cousin needing money for an ankle surgery. Be careful about opening or saving any document or attachment that come with spam mails. They can access all of your personal information, as well as your credit card numbers, and your administrator credentials.  

Also when your software isn’t update, you are giving the hackers an even easier time. Because your technology isn’t up to date, your security isn’t as strong as it is supposed to be. You’ve become a target. 

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The Internet is Forever

Whatever you put out onto world wide web stays tangled out there forever. Even if you hit delete or never hit send, it stays out there. Facebook and Google save your drafts. The iCloud saves everything. And it’s easy to hack.

This is how easy it is to hack into someone’s iCloud account:

1. Know their Apple ID, which is usually the same as their email account.

2. Know their birthdate, which is most likely some self-contributed data found on any social media. A simple happy birthday post from a friend on Facebook will absolutely do the trick!

3. Know answers to basic security questions, like the name of their grade school, first significant other, street they lived on, and so on. This is as easy as finding a classic “Throwback Thursday” picture from a school function when they were seven, an old Facebook relationship status update, and finding a picture of them in front of their old, childhood home. With enough digging, all of this information could be easy to find. 

Your iCloud securely stores your photos, videos, documents, music, apps, and more—and keeps them updated across all your devices. Now whoever’s hacked your iCloud can access all of this. If you’ve got some risqué selfies or a note filled with all of your important passwords, you’re in trouble.

You must remember, nothing goes away. Screenshots, hacking, and private investigators will always exist. Everything you have ever done digitally has generated its own serial number. Even just having a photo of someone could easily lead to discovering their home address, social security number, their daily routine (what time they leave their home, when they go to sleep, who they meet up with, and more), and that’s not even the bulk of it. 

Be aware of the online footprint you leave.

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Ways To Protect Your Privacy

1. Check Social Privacy Settings

Content uploaded to social media platforms is not always secure, so it’s imperative to understand how to use the privacy features your social media sites have to offer. There are features on Instagram and Twitter that will text you a specific and special code every time your account is trying to be logged into, however it will only allow access once that code is put in. You can also make your account private to control who is allowed to follow you or not, but make sure keep it a small list of followers of people you trust.

2. Use Strong Secure Passwords

You should always try to include numbers, symbols, and both uppercase and lowercase letters in your passwords. Most websites will require you to do this anyway because they also want to protect your privacy. Do not use the same password for each account. If you use the same password for your Candy Crush account and your insurance account, they will have access to your game levels, but more importantly your social security number and other private information! Be smart about it. 

Try letting the computer come up with the password for you! Computers nowadays can easily generate plenty of possible combinations until they crack your account. You can always use a password generator application that will create and remember complicated and unique passwords for you, and just use the auto-fill to input it whenever you log in. Beat the computer with your computer!

3. Be Careful What You Share On Social Media.

Whatever you put on the internet is out there forever. Your posts are and always will be searchable, even if you decide to delete them afterwards. Choose what you genuinely want to post and keep your privacy in your hands, not the hackers’. Even if your account is private, your posts are still accessible to the public. It just takes one of your followers to get the source code of your Instagram page, creating a special URL for anyone, following you or not, to check your account. 

On top of this, employers are always looking online. It has been noted that 70% of employers check their candidates social media to determine whether they should be hired or not. It was also stated that 43% use it to check in on their current employees. Your clients, investors, competitors, and vendors will search you up. They want to see who you really are. Your reputation is your greatest asset, so be careful of what you decide to post. Make sure it represents you the way you want to be seen.

4. Be Wary Of Your Self-Contributed Data

This goes hand in hand with being careful of what you share. Let’s say you decide to tweet about your first ever pet, a dog named Sherlock. At the time, it seemed fine, right? But what if that was one of the security questions for your bank account, the name of your first pet? All they have to do is type in “Sherlock” and now, your tweet has given them access to your money. You have to be careful with the information you put out about yourself online. Don’t easily give your important and private data out to the world. At the end of the day, we have control over what information we put on the internet.

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Conclusion

The internet will never stop growing, billions of people using it every day. Thousands of tweets are posted, tens of thousands emails are sent, and millions of searches are done every second. And we all willingly put our information out there!

That is why we must learn to be safe about what we let out onto the internet. Technology will always be advancing, new softwares and gadgets being developed by hackers, who just become smarter and smarter, to make it a breeze for our personal information to be taken and used against us. Cybercrime has never been easier. Simply putting out your birthday online could lead to someone obtaining your mother’s maiden name and the street you grew up on. Now your bank account is empty! It’s all just one Google search away. 

You should never send your confidential information in an email and hackers can trick you if you click on a link that you are unfamiliar with. They cause fraudulent activities and steal personal information on the web, also known as phishing. Be careful about opening or saving any document or attachment that come with spam mails. Even if you delete your information online, its never really deleted, it will always be there. Everything you have ever done digitally has generated its own serial number. There are ways you can protect your privacy such as checking your social privacy settings (you can make your account private to control who and who can not follow you), use strong secure passwords (try to always use numbers, symbols, and both uppercase and lowercase letters), be careful what you share on social media (whatever you put on the internet will always be actually deleted), and be wary of your self-contributed data (don’t easily give your important and private data out to the world).

You must always protect yourself online, being careful of what you post on and who you are talking to. Anonymity is dying. So remember, whatever you put out there on the internet cannot be taken back. You don’t own that information anymore. The internet is forever. Be safe, be smart, and be aware!