Data Privacy Day
New Year - New Risks
The new year brings a unique opportunity to decide on how we want to move forward through 2017, we set goals for ourselves and imagine all of the possibilities that lie ahead.
People are working hard to keep to their new year's resolutions, to make progress in creating better opportunities for themselves, to eat healthier, to save more money or to take more risks.
In the world of cyber security however the goal is to lessen the risk we face and to create an environment in which our data is private, safe, secure and we can be confident that the companies we do business with are doing everything they can do to ensure these things as well. We no longer live in a world where making decisions in our lives outside the cyber realm are as private and of little consequence as they once were, today the line between the internet and the rest of reality is more blurred than ever.
The National Cyber Security Alliance conducted a study recently which noted that 72% of Americans believe that their accounts are secure with just a username and a password. However as time ticks ever forward, this seems to be more fiction than reality; cybercriminals have evolved and so have their methods of acquiring information. The cold and simple answer is that we must evolve as well, we must stay ever vigilant, and look to new solutions as to how we improve our security to protect our data.
Tips from the Experts
The National Cyber Security Alliance released Five Digital To Dos for digital citizens to better secure their lives in 2017. The Department of Homeland Security also released 5 Every Day Steps Towards Online Safety on their tip card. Both of these lists of tips and steps include encouragement to enable strong login authentication. Multi-factor authentication can take different forms, such as a one-time code texted to a mobile device, but all forms achieve the same goal in creating an extra layer of authentication to ensure that the true owner of an account is granted access to their emails, financial records, or social media accounts. For more information, check out how you can Lock Down Your Login .
Data Privacy Day - January 28, 2017
This month the National Cyber Partnership are champions once more, more specifically we are champions of Data Privacy. Data Privacy Day is held annually on January 28th to create awareness about the importance of safeguarding data, respecting privacy and enabling trust. Privacy is something that has become quite literally a give and take with the private industry, no pun intended, but in all seriousness privacy is something that is good for business as well as consumers of business or cyber socialites.
Nearly 75% of Americans feel that it is either "very important" or "extremely important" that companies have accessible, easy to understand, information on what personal data is collected about them, who it is shared with and how it is used. Consumers are growing more wise as to who they do business with, but also who the companies they do business with, do business with, so it is up to business owners abroad to ensure they are doing their part in finding partners who can be trusted in keeping client data secure.
It is a new year, a new day, and we have a new opportunity to get #cyberready. Let us all do our part in creating a safer, more secure cyber-environment to conduct our daily activities, business practices, and communications in.