OUCH! HOW I WAS HACKED
In an ideal world, digital technology would be secured by default and people would be able to use the internet and smart devise intuitively and safely, without having to undertake extra steps to keep their information and, often their finances safe.
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world and the internet has not been built to be secured by default. Which is why it is important to understand the basic knowledge of providing personal security. We do not need everyone to understand every esoteric, atypical elements of cyber security, and we do not make anyone more secure when we inflate our sense of self-importance by telling people that the internet is broken. But it is….Hahahaha !!!!
I do not mean this to be one of those technophobic rants dissing the Internet for rewiring our brains to give us the jittery attention span of Donald Trump on Twitter or preaching about how we must log off and smell the flowers. Those misgivings about new technologies have existed ever since Plato fussed that the technology of writing would threaten memorization and oratory. I love the internet and all its digital offshoots. What I grumble is its decline and vulnerability.
There is a bug in its original design that at first seemed like a feature but has gradually, and now rapidly, been exploited by hackers, trolls, and malevolent actors: Its packets are encoded with the address of their destination but not of their authentic origin. With a circuit-switched network, you can track or trace back the origins of the information, but that is not true with the packet-switched design of the internet.
Now the problem is nobody can tell if you are a troll or a hacker, or even a bot. or better still a Chinese teenager publishing a story that the Russians influenced USA 2016 election in favor of Trump.
This has poisoned civil discourse, enabled hacking, permitted cyberbullying, and made email a risk. Its inherent lack of security has allowed Russian actors to screw with our democratic process.
The lack of secure identification and authentication inherent in the internet’s genetic code has also prevented easy transactions, thwarted financial inclusion, destroyed the business models of content creators, unleashed deluges of spam, and forced us to use passwords and two-factor authentication schemes that would have baffled Santiago.
Let us start with adopting the core behaviors we can put in place as a people to better protect ourselves and keep building on that. It is important to help people with this core behaviors in the same way that we learn how to drive a car safely; we do not expect everyone to understand the intricacies of how an engine works, but we are all expected to drive a car without endangering ourselves and others.
Start with SECURING YOUR HOME Wi-Fi NETWORK
Do not give the bad guys the chance to take advantage of you.
Wireless internet or Wi-Fi access has become a necessity in the home and workplace, but it can also open a door to risks from hackers, scammers, and identity thieves. Whether in your home or office, an unsecured Wi-Fi router running on the default manufacturer settings could be a liability when it comes to hackers and Wi-Fi squatters accessing your private information and burdening your broadband.
If your Wi-Fi network is not secured properly — a public IP address, no unique Wi-Fi password — you could be letting anyone with a wireless-enabled device gain access. You might not be worried about someone using your wireless connection, but the real risk is exposing sensitive information you send and receive — your emails, banking information, and maybe even your smart home’s daily schedule — to cybercriminals.
In my next story, I will show you how I set up simple security on my Home Wi-Fi router to browse securely whiles working from Home.
#cybersecurity #homesecurity #cybercrime
