Cyber Security

The rising threat of data breaches from computer hackers and shifty companies is a constant fear for those who have connected themselves to the internet – which should be the majority of the citizens in the United States. There comes a fear that our data can be hacked by a foreign military, similar to what happened to Sony after they released the trailer for “The Interview”. Companies are another issue: we give them sensitive data for payment plans and they should be liable for the data at hand. They should keep our information protected and it should not be released to anyone except for the individual it pertains to.

The best way to understand Cyber Security issues is to look at major threats that have affected us in the past. The Yahoo! cyber attack had all 3 billion of their users’ data breached, from passwords to names, and even encrypted data being leaked. What we know from this attack is that the US Government accused three Russians and one Canadian of hacking the networks while being funded by Russia. Only the Canadian, Karim Baratov, was extradited and convicted for his connection in the crime.

What has happened since the Yahoo! attack is larger cooperation with the US Government and the private sector when it comes to data breaches. Data breaches affect citizens so much that the Government and law enforcement must be involved in order to find those who have leaked the intelligence. Just as when North Korea stole data from Sony, we would not have known who it was if it was not for Government involvement.

The problem with the US Government taking the lead when attacks happen is that this is a reactive policy and not a proactive one. Forbes has seven keys to success post for businesses to remain safe from data breaches. The biggest issue that comes out is the physical side of secret keeping, where employees need to keep their personal and business data separate. If you have encrypted emails through your business email address, you shouldn’t send any data through your personal account.

The biggest measures that a company needs to take are physical measures. Hiring cybersecurity personnel, ensuring that their employees keep all data private, and doing monthly audits are things that companies can do ensure they are up to date on their data.

When it comes to malicious bots, the Pew Research Center used a Botometer, a machine learning system that was developed by researchers at the University of Southern California and Indiana University. This device could determine through a percentage the likelihood that an account that is posting or leaving comments is actually a malicious bot (not to be confused with the bots used by companies to help provide customer support). Over sixty-six percent of the tweets that they analyzed came from suspected bots. These devices are now being used by various social media sites to ensure that their consumers are not getting an advantage of popularity through bots and that they are not being relentlessly attacked by bots as well.

One of the ways that the United States Marine Corps keeps its websites and databases secure is by (really) stealing data from those that come on their sites. Marinenet and Marine Online are both unsecured sites, which means that personal data can be loaded onto the website. That’s good for the Marine Corps because now they know exactly who was on the site as well as what kind of processor they are running and if they did anything other than what the site was intended for. However, I personally don’t like it because it means that my data is being processed by them.

By being the first to view data, companies could figure out when a cyber attack happens and be quick to react to it. Firewalls and other setups are great preventive measure but virtually anything online can be hacked. The biggest measures an individual can take is to regularly check their accounts for any suspicious activity that they are personally unaware of doing. Connecting your debit and credit cards to your phone as a means to quickly deactivate them in the case of hacked information is also another way an individual can protect themselves.

By creating passwords tailored to specific websites also helps secure your data. You want your password (if available) to contain a mixture of special characters, numbers, and a variety of upper- and lower-case letters. Passwords like, “c57M71s#U” looks tough and strange at first, but for me, I can read it back as USMC 1775, which is still special to me, but no one would know at a glance what it is – it is also incredibly hard to remember if it isn’t special to you. (note: this isn’t a password of mine, just an example)

The biggest thing an individual can do is keep an eye on their personal data and ensure that their data is safe by a means of looking at their accounts for irregular activity and using passwords and encrypted data to keep others from accessing your files.