Renowned security expert Bruce Schneier, in his book Data & Goliath says, “You are under surveillance right now. Your cell phone provider tracks your location and knows who is with you. Your online and in-store purchasing patterns are recorded, and reveal if you are unemployed, sick, or pregnant. Your e-mails and texts expose your intimate and casual friends. Google knows what you are thinking because it saves your private searches. Facebook can determine your sexual orientation without you ever mentioning it… Corporations use surveillance to manipulate not only the news articles and advertisements we each see, but also the prices we are offered. Governments use surveillance to discriminate, censor, chill free speech, and put people in danger worldwide. And both sides share this information with each other or, even worse, lose it to cybercriminals in huge data breaches,” he says. Shocking, isn’t it?
We share our data (and thus allow surveillance) with private parties because they promise us convenience. The government, on the other hand, forces us to share such data for providing some benefits or protection, irrespective of whether the citizen is seeking it or not. All this data-grabbing, however, turns the entire society into a huge mass surveillance project with wide implications for everyone. So how can anyone protect his/her own privacy 24x7? For things like hacking into your service-providers, or email or bank, and data-stockers like government, there is nothing much you can do, except may be pray. But you can avoid falling prey to a phishing attack by not sharing your details over email. Here are few tips to protect your digital privacy and security…
1. Update/Patch: Most cyberattack takes place after finding some flaws or vulnerability in a software or application (app). So, you need to continuously update all software (including firmware) and apps that you use on your PC/laptop or mobile device. Keep the updates on auto mode. Many a times, the software or app developer releases a patch to fix some vulnerabilities. If your device is on auto-update mode, such patches will be automatically downloaded and installed. While there is no guarantee that, after this, you will be protected, but update will make sure that you are not the first victim.
2. Password: It is not possible to remember dozens of unique, strong and robust passwords. Create good quality passwords for different use through passphrase, random words that are easy to remember. You can also use one robust password with 13 and more characters as the base and then add site specifics. For example, if your password is KatAppa1234$, then, for SBI, you can change it to KatAppa1234$Sbi or SbiKatAppa1234$.
3. Use Multi-factor Authentication: Cyber criminals love people who are lazy about protecting themselves. This is where MFA comes handy. Most popular example of MFA is how we use our plastic card and personal identification number (PIN) for transactions. You can add one security layer, like one-time passcode (OTP). Apart from financial service-providers, several others like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter also offer MFA for login.
4. Control App Permissions: Especially for a mobile phone, make sure to know what data the app you had just installed or are going to access. Not all apps require access to your contact list and camera. Use privacy guard, if available and define permissions for each app.
Apart from these, you need to use a good (not costly) anti-virus, security plugins, like no-script and ad-blockers. Other important factor is to check whether all the websites where you transact have https or not. Use of virtual private network (VPN), especially if you are on a public network is another good idea to safeguard your digital life. And, lastly, do not forget to back up all your important files.
