For several years now, the World Data Protection Day has been celebrated. Initiated by the Council of Europe, the day is now celebrated all over the world. It is the occasion to remind some information and especially good practices to protect personal data and to come back on what has been in the center of attention these last months.
It’s also the right time to share some surprising figures on our practices regarding the management of our data. Several companies such as Qwant, Proton, Olvid and Murena, are committed to the protection of privacy on the Internet and have published some interesting figures that show that if the majority of Internet users are aware of the risks, less than half use tools to protect themselves.
First of all, financial information is considered the most sensitive by Internet users, but also data related to personal identification. Only one third seems to be sensitive to the possible sharing of their medical information or to the photos and videos shared by them and their friends.
Apart from the use of this type of tool, the basic rules remain in force to fight against abuses. When possible, it is recommended to use pseudonyms instead of your real name, as is the case when you sign up for a chat system or an online discussion forum.
You can also use the private browsing of Internet browsers during certain operations, which allows you to avoid accumulating cookies on your computer, these files that allow you to be tracked on the web, generally for advertising purposes.
Social networks and messaging
All these points are raised in the case where you choose to disclose data yourself. But you also have to be careful about the data that can be leaked for security and commercial reasons on social networks or in messaging systems.
The problem is different but the goal is the same: to protect one’s information from falling into the wrong hands when one has not chosen to share it.
The most popular applications are owned by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and we recently learned that the implementation of an encryption protocol planned for this year should happen soon.
The company has to juggle between users’ wishes to secure conversations and governments that would like to have a say in any investigation. Other messaging systems like Signal or Telegram exist.
Signal is an instant messaging program with scalable encryption that allows for private calls and messages. Make crystal clear voice and video calls with people around the world for free.
- Downloads: 1626
- Release date: 26/01/2023
- Author: Open Whisper Systems
- License: Free Software
- Categories :
Internet – Communication - Operating Systems : Android – Linux – Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11 – iOS iPhone / iPad – macOS
Telecommuting and its pitfalls
Since 2020 the world of work has experienced a real revolution with the discovery of mass telecommuting to comply with the containment and other measures imposed by the health situation. If the beginnings were confusing for some, they had to adapt and discover the tricks to live it serenely.
But it also raised security issues for many workers, moving from using a machine in a professional environment, often managed by IT managers, to a personal machine where security practices are less drastic.
This includes protecting online accounts by securing logins. The password chosen must be different for each account and complicated enough to not be guessed.
So forget about first names, common words or birth dates and choose a password that combines lower case, upper case and special characters. You can of course use a password manager to generate and remember these identifiers.
If you are looking for an open source password manager, Bitwarden can store and auto-fill your passwords on Mac as well as on Windows, iPhone and Android devices and popular browsers via extensions.
- Downloads: 2140
- Release Date: 01/14/2023
- Author: 8bit Solutions LLC
- License: Free Software
- Categories:
Utilities – Security - Operating Systems : Android – Google Chrome Extension – Microsoft Edge Extension – Mozilla Firefox Extension – Linux – Online Service All Internet browsers – Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11 – iOS iPhone / iPad / Apple Watch – macOS
The VPN, an additional lock
Finally, you must also be careful not to be monitored on the network you use. If you use your accounts on the move, whether it’s social networks, email and professional tools, bank accounts etc, it’s best to avoid using the WiFi networks of train stations, hotels and restaurants or any other public wireless network without protection.
These networks may be booby-trapped or set up by malicious users who analyze the data in transit.
It is also true at home with security checks on your personal Wifi network, which has also become your company’s network by extension during telecommuting periods. In all these cases, the use of a VPN will allow to encrypt the connection and make the data unusable even in case of interception by a third party.
