Adding on to the concerns of Alexa, I thought I would share a few things I have learned by reading a book on cyber security called, "The Art of Invisibility"
Passwords- Apparently they are pretty easy to hack. Hackers use programs, and some knowledge they have about you. They look for typical things like your kids names, hobbies, DOB etc. It is also easy for hackers to guess special characters in your password that are in place of letters. ie. $@mmy (Sammy). It is recommended you have a pass phrase and not a word. The pass phrase should be about 20 characters long. It should also not end the way someone would easily guess. For example, "have a nice day", if the hacker gets to, have a nice.... they might guess the ending would be day. What is better is,"have a nice beer," or something else you might remember. Special characters are better on the front end or the back end. *#@haveanicebeer is more secure than S@mmy123.
When doing internet searches, you should always use HTTPS (the S is for secure). Apparently the URL contains information on your searches. The book provides the example of looking on WebMD about "athletes foot". The unencrypted words "athletes foot" will show up in the URL. This allows your ISP (internet service provider) to know what you are searching.
VPN- Get one! if at all possible it helps with encrypting your searches.
Trackers / Cookies- They are everywhere. If you use your smart phone to do internet searches, you will be amazed at how many trackers are on a website. I installed (per recommendation of the book) an app called Ghostery. It blocks all trackers and it tells you which trackers are on the site you are looking at and what information they collect. Many of these are connected to Google (even if you are not using Google) and Facebook (even if you don't have a Facebook account). For example this site has 6 trackers ( Alexa Metrics, Facebook Connect, Google Analytics, Google+Platform, Pintrest,Twitter Button) Some of them collect sensitive information like financial information.
I clicked on Google Analytics for this site and this is what it says regarding privacy information that is collected.
" Anonymous ( Ad views, Analytics, Browser Information, Cookie Data, Date/ Time, Demographic Data, Hardware/Software Type, Internet Service Provider, Interaction Data, Page Views, Serving Domains) Pseudonymous (IP Address(EU PII) Search History, Location Based Data, Device ID (EU PII) PII ( Name, Address, Phone Number, Email Adtress) Login, EU- IP Address EU Unique Device ID"
Data Sharing:
"Aggregate data is shared with 3rd parties, Anonymous data is shared with 3rd parties., PII data is shared with 3rd parties. Sensitive data is shared with 3rd parties.
Data Retention:
" Undisclosed" (which means they can keep the information they have on you forever).
This information maybe common knowledge to many of you..and it wouldn't surprise me if it is. I always find myself on the back end of technology, but I have decided it is time for that to change
Passwords- Apparently they are pretty easy to hack. Hackers use programs, and some knowledge they have about you. They look for typical things like your kids names, hobbies, DOB etc. It is also easy for hackers to guess special characters in your password that are in place of letters. ie. $@mmy (Sammy). It is recommended you have a pass phrase and not a word. The pass phrase should be about 20 characters long. It should also not end the way someone would easily guess. For example, "have a nice day", if the hacker gets to, have a nice.... they might guess the ending would be day. What is better is,"have a nice beer," or something else you might remember. Special characters are better on the front end or the back end. *#@haveanicebeer is more secure than S@mmy123.
When doing internet searches, you should always use HTTPS (the S is for secure). Apparently the URL contains information on your searches. The book provides the example of looking on WebMD about "athletes foot". The unencrypted words "athletes foot" will show up in the URL. This allows your ISP (internet service provider) to know what you are searching.
VPN- Get one! if at all possible it helps with encrypting your searches.
Trackers / Cookies- They are everywhere. If you use your smart phone to do internet searches, you will be amazed at how many trackers are on a website. I installed (per recommendation of the book) an app called Ghostery. It blocks all trackers and it tells you which trackers are on the site you are looking at and what information they collect. Many of these are connected to Google (even if you are not using Google) and Facebook (even if you don't have a Facebook account). For example this site has 6 trackers ( Alexa Metrics, Facebook Connect, Google Analytics, Google+Platform, Pintrest,Twitter Button) Some of them collect sensitive information like financial information.
I clicked on Google Analytics for this site and this is what it says regarding privacy information that is collected.
" Anonymous ( Ad views, Analytics, Browser Information, Cookie Data, Date/ Time, Demographic Data, Hardware/Software Type, Internet Service Provider, Interaction Data, Page Views, Serving Domains) Pseudonymous (IP Address(EU PII) Search History, Location Based Data, Device ID (EU PII) PII ( Name, Address, Phone Number, Email Adtress) Login, EU- IP Address EU Unique Device ID"
Data Sharing:
"Aggregate data is shared with 3rd parties, Anonymous data is shared with 3rd parties., PII data is shared with 3rd parties. Sensitive data is shared with 3rd parties.
Data Retention:
" Undisclosed" (which means they can keep the information they have on you forever).
This information maybe common knowledge to many of you..and it wouldn't surprise me if it is. I always find myself on the back end of technology, but I have decided it is time for that to change
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