Cyber security – More important than a nuclear weapon
People care about privacy. But many don’t understand the threats to their privacy, or what actions they can take to be more secure.
By
Mishaal Shaheen
Cyber security
People care about privacy. But many don’t understand the threats to their privacy, or what actions they can take to be more secure.
Many users find it difficult to protect their personal information
While the desire for privacy and security remains strong, many Internet users still find it difficult to protect their information effectively, and confidence in the organizations meant to provide that protection is eroding.
The internet is not secure as it needs to be
The Internet is not as secure as it needs to be. We see steady headlines of attacks, viruses, hacking, phishing and other breaches of the security of our data and our communications. Internet security is difficult – it’s a long chain where each link needs to be tested and re-tested, and one weakness puts users at risk.
Cyber security is a shared responsibility
The only sustainable way to improve cyber security is to treat it as a shared responsibility, where users, businesses, and government must work together. Organizations should work to encourage all three of these sectors to do their part.
What can be done to improve cyber security?
Educational resources and campaigns should be made to help teach users about passwords and encryption, and how to defend when they can against attack. There should be security in our products that is developed in standards bodies, and there must be support for the security of the broader open source ecosystem through a secure open source fund. Organizations should engage actively with government officials in several countries around the world to get them to do their part, by opposing proposals that would undermine encryption and security, and by adopting transparent and accountable policies for handling of security vulnerabilities.
We must be ready for the future
In the years to come, security problems will almost certainly continue, and even grow worse. Attacks will continue to be cheap to acquire and deploy, users will continue to take action (and inaction) that puts themselves and others at risk, and some policymakers will continue to seek intentional, weakening of security online.
As we have seen Edward Snow den’s leaks and cyber threat to countries like Denmark, US, Israel, Middle east and China, time has come when we must start taking these things seriously, and know that cyber war is not the answer to a harmonious world, rather strong and united cyber security law is.