Help fight attacks on world wild web

TECHNOLOGY has enabled us to conveniently engage with numerous digital services from anywhere. Access anything, anywhere. A doctor’s appointment can be made online, and even attended to in digital space. Same goes with opening a bank account or registering a mobile plan with a provider.

There’s a lot of data floating around – it’s expected that more than 180 zettabytes, which is equivalent to a billion terabytes, will be circulated and stored by 2025.

This volume is enormous by any proportion and understandably, some of it is more sensitive than other data and can expose us to cyber threats. Corporations provide smart services to consumers and need to work around your data.

This is where clarity in purpose and assurances to consumers is important to understand and to assess. Having said that, the onus is also on the consumers to be more cyber-aware than before when it comes to subscribing to such services.

Illegally acquired data can be sold on the dark web for a hefty price. Identities can then be stolen when the same data (your data) falls into the wrong hands.

So why are we vulnerable through our data? Well, data can’t be touched and felt, unlike traditional currency or goods. A threat posed by a real-life pickpocket is quite tangible and can be handled accordingly through taking simple, safe precautions.

Digital data on the contrary is not tangible. Matter of fact, we cannot quantify quickly as to how many enterprises, services, as well as friends, workplaces and associates have access to our digital data.

Consequently, copies of your data, including credit card numbers, bank account details, home addresses and frequency of visits to a particular location in the city could already be out there, exposed and exploitable.

With the Medibank and Optus hacks still fresh in our minds, we can follow a few tips to remain safe in the world wild web.

Start establishing a daily routine of self-awareness for cyber activities that you may be engaging in.

We can invest a bit of time in knowing our apps, including taking note of the privacy settings of an app, and then work towards accepting or refusing to share our data.

Demand answers as to why Corporate X is going to hold your data, including your medical records long after you’ve cancelled your membership? Ask why, and for what purpose?

So what can corporations do? Inherently, consumer relationships are transitive. The corporate motto should be: “Data safeguards everywhere, none of my consumer data is laid all bare.”

Without action on the part of all stakeholders, cyber attacks will continue to grow and can lead to dwindling consumer confidence, business losses, corporate reputation damage and undue stress for consumers.

Self-awareness and technological know-how are therefore good to have to help keep us all safe in a fast expanding digital world.