A few years ago (2015), Laps Solutions implemented a series of training programs for local chambers of commerce and government on how to use cloud services safely. At that time, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools was not widespread. With the development of technology, today let us talk about one updated strategy to protect personal privacy and security on the Internet.
What has changed the most in recent years? Of course, more and better IT and computer technology, software and hardware have been created. Among them, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms has brought large-scale surveillance on the Internet a reality. In the past, we might be worried about human hackers, but now we are facing the threat of a single or a chain of computing devices composed of artificial intelligence. These machine hackers can operate 24 hours or even forever, collect a large amount of data and perform data analysis beyond human learning ability and working speed.
To protect personal privacy on the Internet, we need to start with good management of personal accounts.
In the past two decades, we may have registered many Internet service accounts: email, social media, cloud storage, online games, applications and so on. We may have been serious about managing the content and data in personal accounts, but many people may forget to protect their "inactive" or no longer used accounts.
It is also a way to protect personal privacy by erasing the contents of the account and then deactivating or canceling the accounts that are no longer in use.
Fundamentally speaking, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms rely on learning stored data and then identifying, classifying, or predicting the identity and behavior of users. For example, you may have saved a set of photo images in your social media account for many years, and we don’t know if any machine learning algorithm will collect your pictures for analysis on a certain day.
A login account is always associated with one or a set of login credentials and is at least password protected. A legitimate system should store passwords as hash values instead of plain text. However, in fact, you may have heard that many "hacked" systems store passwords in plain text format. As an ordinary user, one generally does not understand the technical status behind the system. Imagine that you may use a common password in many different systems, and for a long time, some of your accounts have not been used again. So, would you think that you have avoided the third party from knowing your password? (By the way, the best practice is to use a different password on each system you log in to.)
Do not rely on your service provider to delete inactive accounts. Daily news often reports how Internet service providers expand the number of users. You will rarely find a company report mentioning a decrease in registered users. (Actually, who can define "active" and "inactive" users?)
From today, it is wise to keep the least personal data and information in the online world. This is not easy, because many systems may have recorded a series of fingerprint data for your activities in the network or applications, or have stored your personal information in a certain place for analysis. Remove unnecessary accounts and their content, at least cut off their association with your real-world identity and role.
First, you can take steps to clear and deactivate some email accounts that are no longer in use.
Cybersecurity: Protect Personal Privacy and Safety
26 April, 2021
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Laps Solutions Limited
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