Forbes suggested recently that Facebook’s latest password breach suggests that Internet users see cybersecurity as obsolete. Is this true? Do we not even think it’s possible anymore? Do you think cybersecurity has become obsolete?
Our Opinion
Sayak believes that cybersecurity is changing a lot from how we first perceived it. “It’s is no longer just about passwords being vulnerable and accounts being hacked.” He thinks online threats are more serious today because surveillance operations have been increased, leaving a larger fear of governments and private consortiums than hackers. If you make political statements against your country, you’ll be on a watch list very quickly. He believes it’s important for other countries to have regulations like the EU’s GDPR. He believes “that and the prevalence of IoT devices will make security challenges a major concern, although new ideas such as WP3 and hardware resilience, are becoming mainstream.” Phil reports he takes security very seriously but also recognizes it can only protect you so much, so he tries to stay alert while also not getting paranoid. He does tape over front-facing cameras he doesn’t use and hates the idea of being observed without his consent. He realizes it’s unlikely but knows the only 100 percent way to make sure you have cybersecurity is to “physically block the path with atoms.” The only control you have against being hacked is your passwords, and they aren’t really hacked but are more “exposed in huge batches when a single lax public service server is hacked.” He believes the key is just to never click on a link in an email and to have different passwords for everything important and change them frequently.
Andrew feels that “in a sense cybersecurity is always dipping in and out of obsolescence.” The new attacks and new technologies that are both happening all the time mean standard cybersecurity practices in effect now could be very out of date next year. But it’s more relevant than ever because people have become desensitized to breach. He thinks it just needs to be easier for people to take care of to make sure it happens more often. Knowing people in the field of cybersecurity, he reports most feel that there’s a lot of demand and not enough supply right now. With more and more services depending on the Internet and other technology, having someone rip that apart with a cyber-attack is very undesirable. He concludes that cybersecurity is the opposite of obsolete. Simon doesn’t think cybersecurity has become obsolete. While people have gotten used to the idea that their information is being leaked, “cyber security still has a place in the digital world.” If your password is leaked, you just change our password, but if a hacker gets access to your security camera, it becomes more of a problem. With gadgets connecting us to the Internet, he sees it all as a two-way street. While we connect for convenience, hackers can always access the device by coming up the back way. “If we go slack on cybersecurity now, we’ll have smart locks, cameras, and gadgets that are totally open to the whim of hackers.”” Cybersecurity needs to be stronger than ever. I can see why people might think it’s obsolete, as there are so many hacks and data breaches, and it does tend to make you wonder if there’s even a point of trying to protect your information. I report on many of the breaches and leaks here for Make Tech Easier. But that doesn’t mean we need to be lax. No matter how frustrating it is and no matter how much it may seem to be obsolete, we have to continue doing whatever we can to erase the threats.
Your Opinion
Are you concerned about cybersecurity? Or do you think there’s not much you can do about it anyway” Do you think cybersecurity has become obsolete? Join our conversation below in the comments.
