As you can tell from the blog, digital privacy is incredibly important and hard to achieve. Digital data and private information is not like household items or paper copies. You would notice if someone broke into your home and took one of your household items. You would not notice if someone accessed your computer and made a copy of your private files.
The biggest obstacle society faces regarding digital privacy and safety is the lack of cyber security education. A study published earlier this year cited that many children and young adults have strong trust in social media websites to safely and securely store their data. However, that trust level went down as the researchers spoke to older and more educated demographics (Sales et al., 2024). These, more experienced, users of computers and the internet know the dangers and difficulties of digital privacy having experienced it firsthand. It is the responsible thing to do for society to attempt to educate people to avoid those harsh realities.
Cyber security is its' own discipline, branching off the computer science tree. The first step to improving your cyber security is just developing your fundamental understanding of computers. Computers have developed so rapidly that modern computers hardly resemble the original devices. Additionally, cyber security was not always as important as it is today. Before the internet existed it was nearly impossible for someone to access your computer without your knowledge, now it is a daily obstacle.
Part of that foundational knowledge needs to be about computer hardware. Knowing the different parts of the computer and their function can help alert you to potential damages or viruses affecting your computer. When you notice your computer is suddenly slowing down or struggling to run programs, it may be time to scan for viruses as computer memory does not just immediately wear down.
It is also very important to have a foundational understanding of computer applications and the languages they are created in. Applications, or apps for short, are how you launch and execute almost every function on a computer. Each app has its own code, written by its own developers, and often times is written in different coding languages. What this means for a user is, not all applications are created equally in term of security and privacy. Applications that you have to download to your computer via a disk or over the internet are likely more secure because there is no built in access from other devices. Unlike web based applications where your signal has to be directly sent to the host or owner of the application in order to use it. It is important to know that when you send out a signal to any sort of website or online app it goes through so many different routers and access points before reaching its destination. This means there are a lot of different places someone can jump onto that signal and gain access to your computer. Having a secure network and protects your devices and personal files.
Even without a secure network there are plenty of digital ways to store your personal files in todays world. Countless services offer encrypted messaging or private data storage. However, there are always associated risks when using non local devices and services and most companies know that. A study from 2023 discussed the need for encryption innovation on the part of cloud storage operators because data that is able to be constantly accessed and modified can never be truly secure (Kumar and Singh, 2023). Which raises the question, are cloud services the best to use for private information? If you have truly confidential or personal information it is important to know you have options like local solid state drives or even traditional flash drives that keep your files with you and only you.
Sources:
Kumar, D., Singh, S. (2023). 2023. Vulnerability of Cyber Security in Cloud Computing Environment. 4th International Conference on Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC) Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC); Jul 6- Jul8; Coimbatore India.
Sales, J., Cruz, J., Lu, S., Prudente, M., Ruiz, M., Tiongco, R. (2024). Personal Privacy and Cyber Security: Student Attitudes, Awareness, and Perception on the Use of Social Media. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction. Vol. 16 No. 1
The biggest obstacle society faces regarding digital privacy and safety is the lack of cyber security education. A study published earlier this year cited that many children and young adults have strong trust in social media websites to safely and securely store their data. However, that trust level went down as the researchers spoke to older and more educated demographics (Sales et al., 2024). These, more experienced, users of computers and the internet know the dangers and difficulties of digital privacy having experienced it firsthand. It is the responsible thing to do for society to attempt to educate people to avoid those harsh realities.
Cyber security is its' own discipline, branching off the computer science tree. The first step to improving your cyber security is just developing your fundamental understanding of computers. Computers have developed so rapidly that modern computers hardly resemble the original devices. Additionally, cyber security was not always as important as it is today. Before the internet existed it was nearly impossible for someone to access your computer without your knowledge, now it is a daily obstacle.
Part of that foundational knowledge needs to be about computer hardware. Knowing the different parts of the computer and their function can help alert you to potential damages or viruses affecting your computer. When you notice your computer is suddenly slowing down or struggling to run programs, it may be time to scan for viruses as computer memory does not just immediately wear down.
It is also very important to have a foundational understanding of computer applications and the languages they are created in. Applications, or apps for short, are how you launch and execute almost every function on a computer. Each app has its own code, written by its own developers, and often times is written in different coding languages. What this means for a user is, not all applications are created equally in term of security and privacy. Applications that you have to download to your computer via a disk or over the internet are likely more secure because there is no built in access from other devices. Unlike web based applications where your signal has to be directly sent to the host or owner of the application in order to use it. It is important to know that when you send out a signal to any sort of website or online app it goes through so many different routers and access points before reaching its destination. This means there are a lot of different places someone can jump onto that signal and gain access to your computer. Having a secure network and protects your devices and personal files.
Even without a secure network there are plenty of digital ways to store your personal files in todays world. Countless services offer encrypted messaging or private data storage. However, there are always associated risks when using non local devices and services and most companies know that. A study from 2023 discussed the need for encryption innovation on the part of cloud storage operators because data that is able to be constantly accessed and modified can never be truly secure (Kumar and Singh, 2023). Which raises the question, are cloud services the best to use for private information? If you have truly confidential or personal information it is important to know you have options like local solid state drives or even traditional flash drives that keep your files with you and only you.
Sources:
Kumar, D., Singh, S. (2023). 2023. Vulnerability of Cyber Security in Cloud Computing Environment. 4th International Conference on Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC) Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC); Jul 6- Jul8; Coimbatore India.
Sales, J., Cruz, J., Lu, S., Prudente, M., Ruiz, M., Tiongco, R. (2024). Personal Privacy and Cyber Security: Student Attitudes, Awareness, and Perception on the Use of Social Media. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction. Vol. 16 No. 1
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