Internet Privacy and Security

Introduction and Background Information

Sadeghi, Wachsmann & Waidner (2015) suggests that internet privacy and security refers to the safety of personal information that is published through internet platforms. Internet privacy and security incorporates a variety of components, factors, techniques as well as technologies applied in the fostering protection sensitivity on the private information, preferences and communications. Information privacy or data management is a concept of internet privacy and security that is involved in data protection. Data protection/management is the connection between the assembling and broadcasting of personal information technologically (Buch, Ganda, Kalola & Borad, 2017). In data management, there is a legal and ethical consideration in ensuring the privacy of the individuals’ bio-data is secure from the malicious people. Privacy concerns are present in every situation where personal identification information along with other sensitive data is being collected, stored, utilised and ultimately destroyed.

The Importance of Internet Privacy and Security

Managing personal internet information is significantly essential. Internet privacy and security are causing concerns for any internet user who is planning to purchase or transact online, participate in social networking platforms like Facebook, play games online and attend internet/online forums (Sadeghi, Wachsmann & Waidner, 2015). In case a password to the online account is compromised, and the personal data revealed, this information can be fraudulently utilized by the malicious user.

In the current digital world, more people are using the internet as a means or platforms of communication. The increased utilization of the internet platform and the World Wide Web in the day-to-day human connection is influencing vulnerability to the individual privacy threats. According to Buch, Ganda, Kalola & Borad (2017), personal activities, either passive or active in the internet platforms and Cyberspaces can reveal significant information about someone.

Internet Privacy Risks/Threats

Sharma, Doshi & Prajapati (2016) proposes some of the threats or risks associated with the vulnerability of poor internet privacy and security in data management. These threats include:

1. Phishing-phishing is a version of internet hacking operation applied in stealing the security data such as username, security codes, security PIN, account number, password and credit card number. After the hacker acquires such critical information, can cause a severe crime to the owner of the account being hacked.
2. Pharming-pharming is a form of internet crime/hacking operation that involves redirecting of legitimate website visitor towards another website that is a counterfeit of the original one. This is dangerous to the company because it can facilitate the conning of loyal members. This result from the hacking of the legitimate company’s website (Buch, Ganda, Kalola & Borad, 2017).
3. Spyware-spyware is an offline software application that derived personally from a company’s website/account without the consent of the user. When the computer is online, the personal information acquired previously is transmitted to the spyware source.
4. Malware-this is a software application interface applied in illegally destroying both online and offline computer users via Trojans, spyware and viruses.

Management of Internet Privacy and Security

It is the concern on how to enhance and improve security to the internet users. There are a variety of approaches can be implemented in the bid to develop and maintain internet security and privacy (Williams & Levi, 2017). These include:

1. Application of VPN (Virtual Private Network). These are favourite instrumental tools used in bypassing companies’ and schools’ internet censorship. The tools relocate the user’s internet connection to a variety of location to avoid identification of websites. Recommended VPNs tools include NordVPN, ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (Williams & Levi, 2017).
2. Application of password, security words, authentication keys and security PINs. These are a combination of words and letters that are known to the user or the group of users. Only the legible and authorized users can access these logins (Wadhwa & Arora, 2017).
3. Encryption of personal data-encryption helps in preventing people from monitoring the network operation and viewing personal information.
4. Regularly clean up cookies-this reduces the chances of being tracked online.
5. Use The Onion Router (TOR) to access any website. This is an application software operating in the same way as VPN (Wadhwa & Arora, 2017).

Conclusion

Internet privacy and security incorporates a variety of components, factors, techniques as well as technologies applied in the fostering protection sensitivity on the private information, preferences and communications. Managing personal internet information is significantly important (Wadhwa & Arora, 2017). The increased utilization of the internet platform and the World Wide Web in the day-to-day human communication is influencing vulnerability to the individual privacy threats. These threats include cyber crimes such as phishing, pharming, spyware and malware. Therefore, there is a need to improve and maintain internet security and privacy to avoid malicious damage.

References

Buch, R., Ganda, D., Kalola, P., & Borad, N. (2017). World of Cyber Security and Cybercrime.

Williams, M. L., & Levi, M. (2017). Cybercrime prevention. Handbook of crime prevention and community safety, 454-469.

Wadhwa, A., & Arora, N. (2017). A Review on Cyber Crime: Major Threats and Solutions. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 8(5).

Sadeghi, A. R., Wachsmann, C., & Waidner, M. (2015, June). Security and privacy challenges in the industrial internet of things. In Design Automation Conference (DAC), 2015 52nd ACM/EDAC/IEEE (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Sharma, P., Doshi, D., & Prajapati, M. M. (2016, November). Cybercrime: Internal security threat. In ICT in Business Industry & Government (ICTBIG), International Conference on (pp. 1-4). IEEE.