Security
Why Security? - An Explanation
March 23, 2021 / MyDataRemoval Staff
This is a much simpler argument than the “Why Privacy?” argument. We imagine this doesn’t take much convincing, but we are including this post just in case.
Things of value can be taken.
Have you ever had something stolen from you? I have. Multiple things. Most of us have had somethign stolen from us. For me, the most invasive experience was when someone fell on me while standing next to me on a bus. It wasn’t until when I was off the bus that I realized my wallet was gone. I felt so violated. Angry. That was mine. I had earned every cent of that money. On top of that was the hassle involved in cancelling and reissuing credit cards and getting a new government id. This was not okay.
I didn’t have that much money in the wallet and the other items were replaceable. However, plenty of things that can be stolen are worth much more and sometimes cannot be replaced. It could be things that are broken into: a house, car, or business. It could be accounts that are hacked or hijacked. It could also be scams we or loved ones fall for. Unfortunately, there is a pretty long list of ways we can have things we value stolen.
We protect what we value.
I have locks on the front door of my house and on my car. I have passwords on my computer and my accounts. My bank has locks, security systems, and security professionals keeping my money safe from malicious actors. I don’t walk around with all of the money I have to my name on my person. It would be unsafe to do so. I hide money where no one will find it. I also try not to let other people know I even have money or anything worth stealing.
We don’t hand out keys to our house.
I don’t give keys to my house to anyone I don’t trust. I don’t give credentials to my bank account or any other online account to people I don’t trust. I don’t let people inside my house I don’t trust. Scammers and malicious actors try to get you to share sensitive information or click links that will install malware on your device. I would never want a bad actor to install a surveillance camera in my home that they could monitor or something that would let them into my house when I wasn’t home. Just as we lock our house or card doors, we need to secure our digital lives to keep the bad guys out.
Most people don’t think about security first.
When you get a new phone, what is the first thing you do? Adjust the security settings on your device? Probably not. Most people install their favorite apps, try out the new camera, or login to all of their accounts. Most people don’t go to the security websites to read interesting news. Most people don’t enjoy hearing about scams or hacks. If you happen to be one of those people, we applaud you and hope our website can be a helpful resource. For everyone else, security doesn’t need to be a focus, but you do need to take steps to secure your digital life.
Where should you start?
Securing your digital life can be an overwhelming task. There are password managers, encryption, multifactor authentication and lots of other concepts and tools to worry about. We will soon be starting a DIY security series on our blog. Stay tuned! A good first step could be considering a password manager.
Good luck in your digital security journey!
Some resources from our blog:
Some resources from other websites:
- The Surveillance Self-Defense from the EFF
- A Workbook from Intel Techniques that will help you remove yourself from data-broker websites
- How password managers work
- How to enable two-factor authenication