A lot of people get their deductions on cybersecurity based on urban legends and things they’ve seen in TV shows. Here, the capabilities of hackers and the dangers of malware are far greater than they really are. Don’t get us wrong, they really can hack a number of devices and platforms, but this is not as simple or as common as fearmongers online would want you to believe.
The majority of online activities are pretty safe, and as long as you don’t click on random links, download files from suspicious websites, or send money to that Nigerian prince, you should do just fine.
If you’re still not convinced by this “too optimistic” introduction, here are some arguments to help put your mind at ease.
1. Awareness is a lot higher
Sure, a lot of people are still unaware of phishing but, proportionally speaking, more people know about phishing today than at any point in history. Since there are more internet users than ever before, this means that there are more people who are aware of this problem.
The platforms are better at detecting phishing emails, which is why they send these emails straight to spam. Platforms like Facebook warn you whenever you’re about to leave their site, giving you an extra second to re-read the URL or hover over the link and see if this is really where you want to go.
Even people who are too lazy to come up with good passwords know what a good password is. In fact, most platforms won’t
There are also so many platforms that you can use in order to increase your anonymity and security in the digital world. Just think about something as simple as a VPN. A few years ago, the majority of internet users had no idea what this was. Today, a lot of people use it just for internet browsing and bypassing geo-restrictions. In other words,
2. Antivirus software is far more sophisticated
Another thing to keep in mind is not just that people are more aware of that software, but the software is much more efficient than it ever was before.
Just take, for instance, Technopedia’s top-list for 2024, some of which have a detection rate of as much as 97.7%. Others go as far as to promise a 100% detection of malware that’s more than 4-weeks old. The thing is that since these platforms always get updates, the protection extends even past those four weeks.
Now, there are a lot of software that have decent free licenses and offer decent protections even to those who don’t pay. Then, there are trial programs. In fact, some tools, like Avast, will offer as much as a full year of free trial period.
With tools like AVG, you get a real-time protection version, even with a free version.
In other words, you get a lot of options even if you choose not to pay but the truth is that if you spend so much time online (or even work online), paying might be in your best interest.
There are plenty of ways to protect yourself out there, some of which are available regardless of your budget. Choosing not to protect yourself is a choice, nonetheless.
3. Blockchain is spearheading the revolution
The biggest concern with the internet can be examined through the most common criticism of one of its most famous sites – Wikipedia. Namely, the main reason why so many people discredit Wikipedia is because it can be edited by anyone.
However, what if the data on Wikipedia was immutable? What if you need a special set of permissions to change it? Well, that’s exactly what the blockchain is bringing.
Alongside this increased data integrity, it decentralizes the database containing that particular file or piece of information. Imagine if, in order to change a piece of paper, you had to physically break into hundreds of archives scattered all over the globe simultaneously. This is how hard it is to compromise the data on blockchain.
Through the help of smart contracts, online scams will have to be a lot different. Now, when the contract is fulfilled, it will be executed even without escrow, which will provide an extra layer of protection for everyone involved.
4. Smart homes are not as endangered as they would want you to believe
In theory, if you have a smart home and someone gains access to its functions, they could control your locks, your lights, and much more. However, this is not as easy as you think, and there are so many things you can do to ensure higher protection.
Manufacturers of these smart homes are more than aware of both concerns and gaps in their security, which is why they work extra hard on security features. Firewalls, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and more are stronger than your standard issue. They’re also getting regular updates.
Another extra layer of protection comes from the fact that these homes have a limited attractive surface. This means that they may not run on traditional operating systems, which reduces the potential vulnerabilities in the system.
Lastly, these homes work on isolated networks. Sure, someone could technically hack in from within a network but there’s no risk of getting your lights to flicker by someone from half a world away.
5. Numerous new methods of identity protection
While losing your password or having a predictable password is horrible, most of the time, even if they get your password, there’s a 2FA to go around. You’ll receive a link to your email or a code to your SMS that needs to be activated. So, unless they also have your email and your phone, it wouldn’t do them much good.
Then, there’s the matter of notifications and the platform remembering your devices. So, if someone logs in from a different device, they’ll probably have to verify this via another means. Not only that, but you’ll get a notification that someone made an attempt. So, this results in you getting enough time to change all your passwords.
If it’s your device that got stolen, you can remotely log out of everything on there. Adding an extra level of protection.
It’s even safer because of the fact that more and more people don’t even keep that much on their HDD/SSD. Instead, people store personal data on cloud storage. Even if they keep games, movies, and some files on their device, personal photos always go to the cloud.
The same goes for your work files. These work files are usually accessed via cloud-based platforms on collaboration tools and messaging apps. You can remotely log out of them and change passwords if you develop a suspicion that they were rigged.
It’s still dangerous; you still have to be careful; it’s just not as bad as you think
The truth is that the majority of people use the internet and online applications without any repercussions. Sure, there are some safety precautions that you have to take, but these are the equivalents of putting your seatbelt on before driving or checking if you’ve left your oven on before leaving your home. The reason why this was problematic in the past is because all of these concepts were so new. The more people use them, the more second-nature-like will these cybersecurity precautions become.
