Today, I’m excited to share with you all a fascinating guest post from my friend, the Helpful Hacker. This topic impacts every one of us who uses technology.

In this post, you’ll learn three important things. (1) Why understanding digital privacy and cybersecurity is an absolute necessity for everyone, even those who aren’t “tech geeks.” (2) What “digital privacy” and “cybersecurity” actually mean, in simple terms. (3) The practical, actionable steps that you can take to protect yourself online.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did! If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to check out the Helpful Hacker’s bio at the bottom of this post. His website offers consultations for businesses and individuals, as well as five educational ebooks that I found incredibly helpful.

Why Are Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Important?

Across the globe, groups of individuals are racing to break through the layers of defense implemented on all kinds of computer systems, whether they be personal smartphones or governmental supercomputers. With the enhanced abilities and often limitless resources available to these malicious hackers, it is critical that we know how to protect ourselves online.

Digital technologies have enabled extraordinary projects to be created and have fueled not only economic but also social and political change. However, computer users are truly “sheep in the midst of wolves,” as overbearing and malicious entities populate the Internet with their tools and techniques, seeking to surveil others and steal information from them (Mark 10:16).

There are several key reasons why these entities desire to perpetrate such actions upon the general populace of the Internet:

1. Governments want to gather information about people for two nefarious purposes: (a) barring certain groups from using specific services (b) helping to shape new legislation from demographic data collected online.
2. Corporations want to gather and sell the data of users to other corporations for advertising purposes.
3. Malicious hackers want to steal individuals’ data to sell it on the black market of the Internet, known as the Dark Web.

When considering cybersecurity and digital privacy, we would be wise to heed the admonishment of Proverbs 22:3, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.”

Automated viruses and robots troll the Internet, looking for unsecured computers to infect. At the same time, foreign hackers are constantly analyzing American computers, looking for new ways to destroy free society and to benefit their own countries by stealing private data and destroying critical infrastructures.

The revelations of Edward Snowden in 2013 also illuminated the fact that the US government has multiple systems that it utilizes to collect every phone call and computer activity log from Internet providers such as AT&T for the government’s own uses. From these examples, we learn that we must take proactive steps to not only educate ourselves in basic cybersecurity and digital privacy measures, but to also implement those tools and techniques. 

A Brief Overview of Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy

Cybersecurity and digital privacy are two separate but related fields. Cybersecurity involves protecting one’s devices from cyber threats, while digital privacy involves protecting one’s information and one’s right to privacy through the proper implementation of digital safeguards.

Some of the most important categories of cyberthreats include malware, social engineering, and targeted hacking.

• Malware is an overarching term that can be used to refer to ransomware, spyware, worms, viruses, Trojan horses, and other forms of malicious software designed to attack our computers and steal the data stored within.
• Social engineering involves phishing emails and other digitally-based scams, which can be extremely difficult to combat and are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s digitally interconnected society. [Editor’s note: I once fell prey to one of these digitally-based scams. You can read about that in my post, “What I Learned the Day I Got Scammed.”]

Targeted hacking attacks will often leverage both of the previously mentioned categories to take advantage of users’ lack of technological knowledge. 

How Can I Protect Myself In a Dangerous Digital World?

First, we must become educated regarding basic technological threats and safeguards. Hosea 4:6a says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”

After becoming educated regarding such threats, we must immediately take the proper steps to implement what we have learned.

4 Steps to Improve Cybersecurity

Some actionable items that could be implemented to provide better cybersecurity are:

1. Ensure that an antivirus is installed on every device, including mobile devices, and that it is up-to-date. One recommendable antivirus is Avast Security. 
2. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts, which can lead to credential-stuffing, where attackers use passwords from one hacked account on another service to try to hack into a second account. This is what occurred in the 2019 Disney+ breach. 
3. Ensure that your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, etc.) has the latest security patches installed. These can usually be found in the Settings app. Unpatched devices are one of the top ways that hackers are able to successfully breach computer systems. 
4. Avoid using public hotspots, as hackers often “poison” these hotspots to be able to steal information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers that are passing through those networks. 

2 Steps to Improve Digital Privacy

To improve digital privacy, one can:

1. Use a secure browser like Brave Browser. Many browsers “leak” information about what you do online or allow companies and governments to track you across multiple websites. Brave Browser has many built-in protections that inhibit such trackers.
2. Minimize the data that you put about yourself online, especially on social media. It is amazing the amount of information that can be collected to build a profile of an individual online. The online privacy and protection of children from predators is especially a concern. The less social media on which children are present, the less likely they are to be physically or virtually harassed.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity and digital privacy may seem intimidating or incomprehensible, but with a biblically-based realization of the necessities of these measures and an understanding of the basics of these topics, we can take effective steps to mitigate cyberthreats in our personal lives.

Reverend H. K. Williams wrote, “…if you fail to prepare you are preparing to fail.” We must all ask ourselves, what can we do today that will ensure our digital privacies and liberties tomorrow?

Question: What questions do you have about cybersecurity or digital privacy? Please respond in the comments below.

More on the Helpful Hacker

The Helpful Hacker is an ethical hacker who is currently completing his master’s degree in cybersecurity from Liberty University. A firm believer in God’s Word, The Helpful Hacker is a sinner saved by grace who seeks to help others in both spiritual and technical matters whenever he can. The Helpful Hacker can be reached at helpfulhacker@cyber12security.com. To learn more about Cyber12 Security and the services and products Cyber12 offers, please visit cyber12security.com.

To Learn More, Check out These Five Ebooks from Cyber12:

• Protecting Children in a Hostile Online World
• The Vitality of Anonymity in World Missions
• Cybersecurity Basics for Traveling Abroad
• Understanding Cybersecurity
• The Basics of Using Skype