Page 79 - Veritas

FEATURE ARTICLES

CYBERSECURITY: USING DATA

EVERYDAY

Prof. Don Caeiro

Cybersecurity is the protection of computer device networks and everything

that falls into the definition of computer according to the United Nations
Congress. With the advent of technology and the recent developments
in the field of information technology, we require a very strong system

of what we are doing using this technology so that we will be safe and

we will not be vulnerable to any sort of criminal activity. Every day there
is some new technology that is developed. New software, new websites,
new games, new applications, new reveries of computers and mobile

phones, a new type of communication among many others are developing

at a rate that cannot be comprehended. In this digital framework, many
of us cannot live without our phone or devices for even ten minutes. For
our everyday life, we look for some form of technology that is there to be

of some assistance. A very simple example would be a smartwatch that

is gaining more importance than other watches and ultimately becomes a
part of the Internet of things (IoT). All of these systems, all of this soft-
ware and application that we are using day in and day out, are handling

some amount of data if not all the data. Any type of device you may use

will be processing some data or the other. The question is - what data is
being handled by that system or interface and what happens to the data
once the job is done? It is surprising to see many do not know the nuances

of these processes.

An example of an application that could properly help you communicate
with other people. Using the same application you are not only able to

message them but also video chat with them using the internet. There are

numerous applications available for performing these functions, but we
do not know the source of these applications or the owner of these appli-
cations. Maybe we would be able to say that this application is owned by

this particular entity, but we cannot say that for all the applications that

we would be using. Take your mobile phone, for example, you would have
installed applications on the phone, that you don’t use anymore, or you

64 VERITAS