Digital self-defense

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Digital self-defense is the use of self-defense strategies by Internet users to ensure digital security; that is to say, the protection of confidential personal electronic information. [1] Internet security software provides initial protection by setting up a firewall, as well as scanning computers for malware, viruses, Trojan horses, worms and spyware. However information at most risk includes personal details such as birthdates, phone numbers, bank account, schooling details, sexuality, religious affiliations, email addresses and passwords. This information is often openly revealed in social networking sites, leaving Internet users vulnerable to social engineering and possibly Internet crime. Mobile devices, especially those with Wi-Fi, allow this information to be shared inadvertently. [2]

Contents

Digital self-defense requires Internet users to take an active part in guarding their own personal information. Four key strategies are frequently suggested to assist that protection.

Computer security

Computer security in this context is referring to Internet security software. The ongoing security of private information requires frequent updating of virus and spyware definitions so that ongoing developments in malicious software cannot interfere with, or copy, private information. [3]

Email Accounts and Usernames

Choice of Appropriate Email Account

The practice of utilising more than one email account to separate personal and business usage from recreational usage is a strategy commonly used to manage personal privacy. The free and ready availability of email accounts from sites such as Yahoo, Google or Hotmail allows the protection of personal identity through the use of different names to identify each email account. These throw-away accounts can be discarded or replaced at will, providing another level of protection.

Choice of Username

A username is required to set up email accounts and to open accounts for various official, commercial, recreational and social networking sites. In many cases, an email address may also be utilised as a username. Usernames that correlate with personal information such as names or nicknames are more at risk than ones that are cryptic or anonymous, particularly on social and recreational sites.

Password Strength

A password is a mandatory security measure that accompanies usernames. The use of personal data to construct passwords i.e. family members’ names, pet’s names or birth dates increases the risk to confidential information and are easier to crack than long complicated passwords so password strength is a key strategy for protecting personal information. A password can be weak or strong:a weak password is cutekittens, a strong password is ?lACpAs56IKMs.

According to Microsoft an ideal password should be at least 14 characters in length and have letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers, where complexity is added by the inclusion of uppercase letters. [4]

Managing Personal Information Using Privacy Options

Social networking sites offer greater security risks to personal electronic information because sensitive, private or confidential information such as personal identifiers are routinely used to create public profiles. [5] Many websites give options to suppress the amount of personal information revealed through the customisation of privacy settings. However privacy settings can reset if changes to the website occur. [6]

Related Research Articles

Information security, sometimes shortened to infosec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or at least reducing the probability of unauthorized/inappropriate access to data, or the unlawful use, disclosure, disruption, deletion, corruption, modification, inspection, recording, or devaluation of information. It also involves actions intended to reduce the adverse impacts of such incidents. Protected information may take any form, e.g. electronic or physical, tangible or intangible. Information security's primary focus is the balanced protection of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data while maintaining a focus on efficient policy implementation, all without hampering organization productivity. This is largely achieved through a structured risk management process that involves:

Spyware describes software with malicious behavior that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send such information to another entity in a way that harms the user; for example by violating their privacy or endangering their device's security. This behavior may be present in malware as well as in legitimate software. Websites may engage in spyware behaviors like web tracking. Hardware devices may also be affected. Spyware is frequently associated with advertising and involves many of the same issues. Because these behaviors are so common, and can have non-harmful uses, providing a precise definition of spyware is a difficult task.

Keystroke logging, often referred to as keylogging or keyboard capturing, is the action of recording (logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically covertly, so that a person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored. Data can then be retrieved by the person operating the logging program. A keystroke recorder or keylogger can be either software or hardware.

Computer and network surveillance is the monitoring of computer activity and data stored on a hard drive, or data being transferred over computer networks such as the Internet. This monitoring is often carried out covertly and may be completed by governments, corporations, criminal organizations, or individuals. It may or may not be legal and may or may not require authorization from a court or other independent government agencies. Computer and network surveillance programs are widespread today and almost all Internet traffic can be monitored.

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to not only Internet, often involving browser security and the World Wide Web, but also network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information, which leads to a high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, online viruses, trojans, worms and more.

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID and password to any of several related, yet independent, software systems.

Internet privacy

Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, repurposing, provision to third parties, and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via the Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. Privacy concerns have been articulated from the beginnings of large-scale computer sharing.

Netscape Browser

Netscape Browser is the eighth major release of the Netscape series of web browsers, now all discontinued. It was published by AOL, but developed by Mercurial Communications, and originally released for Windows on May 19, 2005.

Crimeware is a class of malware designed specifically to automate cybercrime.

A spoofed URL describes one website that poses as another website. It sometimes applies a mechanism that exploits bugs in web browser technology, allowing a malicious computer attack. Such attacks are most effective against computers that lack recent security patches. Others are designed for the purpose of a parody.

Privacy-invasive software is computer software that ignores users’ privacy and that is distributed with a specific intent, often of a commercial nature. Three typical examples of privacy-invasive software are adware, spyware and browser hijacking programs.

Secure messaging is a server-based approach to protect sensitive data when sent beyond the corporate borders, and it provides compliance with industry regulations such as HIPAA, GLBA and SOX. Advantages over classical secure e-mail are that confidential and authenticated exchanges can be started immediately by any internet user worldwide since there is no requirement to install any software nor to obtain or to distribute cryptographic keys beforehand. Secure messages provide non-repudiation as the recipients are personally identified and transactions are logged by the secure email platform.

Cyber crime, or computer crime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers, more precisely, to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Issues surrounding this type of crime have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright infringement, identity theft, child pornography, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise.

Since the arrival of early social networking sites in the early 2000s, online social networking platforms have expanded exponentially, with the biggest names in social media in the mid-2010s being Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. The massive influx of personal information that has become available online and stored in the cloud has put user privacy at the forefront of discussion regarding the database's ability to safely store such personal information. The extent to which users and social media platform administrators can access user profiles has become a new topic of ethical consideration, and the legality, awareness, and boundaries of subsequent privacy violations are critical concerns in advance of the technological age.

Webroot Internet Security Complete is a computer security software program for Microsoft Windows users that combine SaaS cloud protection with traditional antivirus and antispyware desktop technologies. Built into the suite is a two-way firewall, 10GB of online backup and file sharing capabilities, a registry cleaner, email antispam, secure browsing, anti-phishing and a password management service. The suite was initially released on July 26, 2010 as the 2011 version of the product.

Microsoft account

A Microsoft account or MSA is a single sign-on Microsoft user account for Microsoft customers to log in to Microsoft services, devices running on one of Microsoft's current operating systems, and Microsoft application software.

The 2012 LinkedIn hack refers to the computer hacking of LinkedIn on June 5, 2012. Passwords for nearly 6.5 million user accounts were stolen. Yevgeniy Nikulin was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 88 months in prison.

NullCrew

NullCrew was a hacktivist group founded in 2012 that took responsibility for multiple high-profile computer attacks against corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to computer security:

This is a list of cybersecurity information technology. Cybersecurity is security as it is applied to information technology. This includes all technology that stores, manipulates, or moves data, such as computers, data networks, and all devices connected to or included in networks, such as routers and switches. All information technology devices and facilities need to be secured against intrusion, unauthorized use, and vandalism. Additionally, the users of information technology should be protected from theft of assets, extortion, identity theft, loss of privacy and confidentiality of personal information, malicious mischief, damage to equipment, business process compromise, and the general activity of cybercriminals. The general public should be protected against acts of cyberterrorism, such as the compromise or loss of the electric power grid.

References

  1. ↑ “Components of Security”, http://nms.csail.mit.edu/~snoeren/stp307/ppt/sld002.htm
  2. ↑ “Protect yourself in the online, social network community”, Creston News Advertiser, 11 Feb 2011. http://www.crestonnewsadvertiser.com/articles/ara/2011/02/11/8044960708/index.xml
  3. ↑ "Secure your computer", © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 and © Stay Smart Online. http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/home_internet_users/secure_your_computer Archived 2011-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Create Strong Passwords", Microsoft Safety and Security Center. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ "Safer Social Networking". © Commonwealth of Australia 2010.http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Parents/Brochures%20and%20posters%20and%20contacts/Cybersmart%20contacts.aspx#Information
  6. ↑ “Protect yourself in the online, social network community”, Creston News Advertiser, 11 Feb 2011. http://www.crestonnewsadvertiser.com/articles/ara/2011/02/11/8044960708/index.xml

See also

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