From Karya Computer Works to your corner of the world, we wish you the happiest of New Years, enduring positivity, and infinite prosperity.
We hope and KNOW that you are beginning your new year off right! The new year brings along with it new outlooks, new visions, new resolutions, new technology, and of course, new technological threats and concern.
Prior to the onset of the 2000s, widespread computer usage, and the ever-increasing input of our data within the internet, our risk of threat was minuscule; after all, we only got on the internet to check the news, our email, and a few other outlets. That was about as far it went.
Nowadays, we find ourselves tethered to our smartwatches, smartphones, smart cars, and even smart cookware (looking at you WiFi-enabled Crock-Pot…) as if they were newfound appendages. In the previous decades, we mostly worried about our computer only, but with around-the-clock internet usage and data input and predictions that there will be more than between 50 to 70 billion smart devices (more so known as IoT devices) by the year 2025 with more than 50 IoT devices per household we have quite a few reasons to become more aware and gain more control over our internet presence and devices.
**IoT stands for “Internet of Things,” a recent internet colloquialism that basically refers to any internet connected device that isn’t a computer (i.e. Home Automation such as network-connected lightbulbs and cameras, Google Nest Thermometers, Smartwatches)**
Previously, it was quite easy to supplement a computer with virus protection and that provided adequate defense. But how do you protect your IoT home lighting? Your tablet? Alexa?
While we haven’t yet reached a point where these devices are constantly hacked, be mindful that hackers and exploitive entities don’t sleep. In fact, their efforts have skyrocketed since the Covid epidemic along with more and more users working remotely from home.
Therefore, there has never been a time more crucial to take steps to gain control of your data and internet presence. While this can appear to be a daunting, insurmountable endeavor, you can find much success if you take steps to strengthen your security, constantly evaluate your trust of the entities you interface with (even big brand names such as Target, T-Mobile, and AOL have all been majorly compromised. Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data_breaches for full list…), and eavesdrop on technological news sometimes.
While there are many, many things you can do to be safer, start with the following:
Use 2-Factor Authentication: Historically, we’ve used one factor authentication -simply our password- to log into our myriad accounts. In the 2020s, passwords and making them strong and difficult to crack is increasingly negligible. (Not to mention, most people use the SAME PASSWORD for many accounts!) With 2-Factor Authentication, to gain access to an account, a hacker would need BOTH your password (the first-factor authentication) AND access to your smartphone or email address (The second form of authentication). Many users find this tedious, however, recovering your account from a hacker or paying a ransom would be even more time-, cost-, and life-consuming.
Evaluate trust: This can be a complex situation to assess. However, I would highly suggest adding the website https://www.haveibeenpwned.com to your bookmarks and visiting the site once a month to type in your email address (or others, if there’s more than one) and see if there’s any breeches tied to your name, accounts, or email address.
Stay in the loop: Even if you aren’t a techie, try to read up on tech news when you can. While most people may not find tech news as their cup of tea, I am confident that before the decade’s end, tech news, our awareness of it, and the role it will play in our lives will rival the potency of today’s political and other popular news forms.