The average person will lock their house before they leave for the day and some may have home alarm systems, but not put any extra thought into how they protect themselves and their information online or even how important it is. I am addressing the issue of security on the internet, or CYBERSECURITY because information is worth more than gold but most of us do nothing to protect our own information.

 

Data Generated the Cost and How Often it is Stolen

How valuable is your data?

•In 2018, American companies spent over US $19 billionacquiring and analyzing consumer data.
•The financial damage caused by a data breach has spiked by more than 6 percent since last year and now costs companies an average of $3.86 million each, according to a new study.
•IC3 received 467,361 complaints in 2019—an average of nearly 1,300 every day—and recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individual and business victims.

Humor is always import, but the picture is true. No matter what we do to prepare our systems, we as the users are the most important part in protecting ourselves by researching safe practices.

“If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked”
― Richard Clarke
“Two things about the NSA stunned me right off the bat: how technologically sophisticated it was compared with the CIA, and how much less vigilant it was about security in its every iteration, from the compartmentalization of information to data encryption.”
― Edward Snowden

Responsible Practices for Using the Internet

•Keep your security software current and up to date to ensure you have the best possible defense ready.
•Use strong passwords, meaning your password is long, difficult and random.
•Use MFA(Multi Factor Authentication) for your online accounts so that it is harder to crack into your accounts
•DO NOT USE PUBLIC WIFI TO DO PERSONAL BUSINESS

I hope you feel VUNERABLE

The information presented should make you feel anything but comfortable. Upon researching how often cyber attacks happen, how costly they become, and how widespread cyber crime has become should be a wake-up call for all of us that something needs to be done differently.

I myself was once a simpleton, you are probably are also a fellow simpleton. We are simple people, who have trusting internet practices and no defenses against people who wish to do wrong.  There never in my life has ever been a reason for me to even think that I needed to protect myself online and my goal was to change your way of thinking and give you some reasons as to why it is important. With our society moving to become more reliant upon the internet we need to understand that internet threats are real, they happen to governments who house OUR data, corporations who house OUR data, and people, just like you and I, who do dumb things like click on links that we should know are compromised. Take this October to educate yourself on the risks of being on the internet and what you can do to prevent them.

 

 

References

Data Never Sleeps 5.0

https://web-assets.domo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/17_domo_data-never-sleeps-5-01.png

American Companies Money spent on data

https://usercentrics.com/knowledge-hub/data-is-the-new-gold-how-and-why-it-is-collected-and-sold/

NBC News Data Breach info

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/total-cost-data-breach-including-lost-business-keeps-growing-n895826

IC3 Information

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2019-internet-crime-report-released-021120

Responsible Practices Box

https://stopthinkconnect.org/tips-advice/general-tips-and-advice