Cyber Security; How Safe Are We?
It is really hard to even imagine our online account getting hacked by someone and being blackmailed to expose or sell our valuable information. In the age of information and automation, data is valuable. Whether it’s personal information, a social media account, or information about bank customers.
What is Cyber Security Threat?
A cybersecurity/IT security threat is the threat of theft or damage to computer systems, hardware, software, and networks. Because the world is more connected than ever before, it is possible to interfere, disrupt, and steal data from any source, anywhere in the world.
The person who hacks into your account may use the information for personal gain, sell it, or blackmail you for money. Your social media account, bank account, company website, and anything that holds valuable information can be targets of online theft.
Famous Incidents of Cyber Security Breach
The most recent cybersecurity breach occurred in January when major US celebrities’ Twitter accounts were hacked. Popular personalities’ accounts, including Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Kanye West, were hacked, and a similar message was posted on everyone’s page. The message was to send bitcoin to an account, and the person would send back double your money.
It became one of the most brazen online attacks in history.
The biggest information leak was exposed by Edward Snowden, who exposed the National Security Agency of the USA for tapping the data from Google’s data centers. He exposed the NSA for conducting global surveillance.
Not only the United States but also China and Russia, have been known to conduct hacking of government websites and other official data centers with or without the assistance of their governments.
Personal Data Theft
If you want to know how valuable one’s personal data is, take a look at the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which impacted the US election of 2017.
Cambridge Analytica is accused of assisting Donald Trump and Ted Cruz’s campaigns in the 2017 election by using data from over 87 million people obtained through Facebook’s third-party app ‘This Is Your Digital Life’.By violating Facebook’s terms of service, the app asked many questions and solicited the opinions of those who used it. Facebook was criticized for the same, and Cambridge Analytica has been closed since 2018.
This incident led people to realize how important their data is, which they give away to third-party apps without any thought.
What does the Future Hold for Us?
Experts have said that modern warfare is not going to be fought with bombs and missiles but with bioweapons and cyberwarfare. The Christian Science Monitor has published an article called “The New Cyber Arms Race,”, which explains how the future will see cyberspace becoming the place for warfare.
Cyberterrorism has emerged as an impending threat that will disrupt cyberspace in the future. Cyberattacks have already happened in many parts of the world and are expected at any time and anywhere.
The next war will be fought with a click of a mouse from across the world which unleashes an attack on industries like, utility, transportation, communication, and energy using weaponized computers. Even weaponized computers are capable of disabling the military networks controlling the troops, jets, and other military technologies.
The future is always filled with threats and chaos; it’s we who need to be ready and face all kinds of risks and dangers.
