Big Data Compromised
A previous blog named Big Data and personal information as the new currency explored the trade-off between “free” online services and personal data. The focus of the present blog is to evaluate how safe our data is once it is provided to third parties. We regularly assume that we exchange our data to access certain benefits, it might be also implied that when online agreements are accepted we get certain assurances that our data will be protected and never shared unless we consent to it.
Social networks sites such as LinkedIn specify the rights and limitations offered when registering a new account. If we take the time to read the privacy policy, as I am sure that we all do, we could discover that there are in fact security safeguards designed to protect our information. Nevertheless, these security mechanisms are offered based on industry standards with no additional guarantees.
The reason why I decided to comment on LinkedIn and its privacy policies as well as their online agreements is due to the fact that this company experienced a data breach in June 2012. However, the real extent of the impact was discovered four years later in May 2016 when LinkedIn discovered that an additional 100 million e-mail addresses and hashed passwords were compromised and sold online on leakedsource.com
LinkedIn is one of the several examples from companies affected by security breaches. When researching additional cases of data breaches, I found a website that offered a visual representation of the records lost by different corporations.
Link: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/worlds-biggest-data-breaches-hacks/
Although the diagram presented by the site is extremely user friendly and the interactive circles certainly add a nice touch to the design. It is important not to forget that the analysis presented by the site is in fact personal information compromised. Each time you find a circle that you might be familiar with, such as Myspace, LinkedIn, EBay, Uber, AOL, etc. you should stop and think “did I register to that site?” “What happened to my information?” “Is my current password still safe to use?” Data breaches are a serious problem as personal information in the wrong hands has the potential to be used for identity theft, blackmail, extortion and other kinds of fraud.
Big data is known to offer several advantages and industry applications when put to good use. However, the same data could be exploited under a different context. A global black market for stolen personal data. TrendMicro developed another site that I recommend to pay particular attention to.
The website offers a calculator with some good insights on how much your data is worth online.
Please take some time to watch the following video. I consider that it offers a good overview of how cyber-security works. At the end of the video, a security lab is offered which I have recommended to colleagues in the organisation where I work with great results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdpxddDzXfE
Big Data Compromised is the third from a series of four that explore the risks associated to Big Data and how industry standards in terms of security might not be sufficient to offer the assurances required by consumers when enrolling into a new online service. I would appreciate your comments and personal perception on the subject.
