The issue of digital privacy vulnerabilities has been placed back in the spotlight with online and cloud storage.
The celebrity photo hacking scandal has brought mobile security and digital privacy issues up into the headlines and into the minds of many people who had placed a great deal more faith in the protection available to them from the storage of their own personal data, files, and photos.
Individuals and businesses, alike, are using cloud based storage systems at an increasing rate.
They are using this type of storage for all sorts of files, such as pictures, videos, important documents, and even financial information. While they may feel that their online and mobile security is high enough to keep all of those stored files secure, it takes a situation such as the recent hacking case that involved celebrity nude photos to remind people that no online storage system is completely impenetrable.
Many need this reminder that there is no guarantee of total privacy when it comes to online and mobile security.
Nicholas Carr, who has written broadly about various online subjects, most notably, his “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”. According to him, “We have this abstract belief that privacy is important, but the way we behave online often runs counter to that.” He also went on to state that it is his hope that individuals would understand that anything that people choose to store or do online – regardless of the online security measures that have been taken – has the potential to be made public.
Regardless of this, Carr explained that “there’s this illusion of security that tempers any nervousness … It’s hard to judge risks when presented with the opportunity to do something fun.”
This lesson has certainly been learned by celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, the famous actress, when their private files were accessed by hackers and then made public online. The iCloud and other content sharing systems that are supposed to have high levels of privacy and mobile security associated with them, were targeted and broken into as these top celebrities found their pictures and other files placed out in the open for all to see. Hopefully this will also be a lesson learned by the average mobile device user, as they face a very similar risk.
