While all the companies small and big who provide us with a variety of services would like us to believe that we are fully cyber safe with them, the reality is that we are in a digitally porous world. The additional liability which we carry that we have to fend for ourselves. You won’t even know how to go about it. It might become well-nigh impossible to even connect to the companies / enterprises in whom has reposed so much faith. How does encryption and secure data lifecycle operate when the data is being wantonly stolen of a magnitude which would be even difficult to imagine.
At the end of the day, if we go through the breaches, hacks and forced encryption of data, the feeling is that the current cyber security effort is lip service and standard protocols / compliances are met with, which are sufficient enough for the heightened cyber insecurity the world over. The hackers are improving their expertise, intensity and precision in an exponential manner. A recent scary headline tells it all, “16 billion passwords allegedly leaked in a massive data breach, experts warn no service is safe.” Unheard of, yet true.
Even with this ‘ripped apart’ scare, no tech behemoth or even a small fry would have even sent an advisory to you. This is the world we are forced to live in. This is the biggest breach ever. This poses immense risk to the personal data of millions of users and can lead to widespread phishing scams, identity theft and account hacking. This is not old data. It is new, well organised and collected through a type of malware known as infostealers. Hackers can use it directly or put it up for sale on dark up forums. The leaked data includes login information for email, social media platforms, government portals and even developer accounts on GitHub.
It has been made easy for wrongful use, as the organised format shows, website link, followed by username and password. Experts are calling this breach a “a blueprint for global crime.” It is believed to be from around 30 large data sets, each containing billions of login details. It is dangerous as even people with limited technical knowledge and small amounts of money can access these passwords. Given this precarious situation, Google has advised to move to more secure options as passkeys. The FBI has also warned the public to avoid clicking on links. Cybersecurity experts have advised changing passwords across all major accounts; strong, unique and with two factor authentication. Checking with dark web monitoring tools is also advised, which can alert you as well.
LEGALLY MANDATED ENTITIES: COMPANIES AND THE GOVERNMENT, TO SECURE WAS DATA HAVE TRANSITIONED INTO MUTE SPECTATORS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.