The rapid growth of technologies and evolution of digital devices conditioned the increased importance of social networks and resulted in the appearance of new ways and methods to share information. People use such platforms as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. to exchange photos, videos, and other personal and private information. However, the overuse of technologies poses a certain threat to the security of this data. There are numerous cases that evidence the feasibility of these concerns and condition the necessity of the reconsideration of the approach to data protection. For instance, Facebook is known for many leaks of the private information. People saw messages that they were not supposed to see (Vaas, 2014). Moreover, there are also some leaks of credentials that were found in Google mail (Cawley, 2016). These facts could only prove the existing significant problem that endangers the private information and the necessity of the adherence to the new and more efficient security patterns.
Digitalization of data storage medias
Besides, the digitalization of main data storage medias and their wide usage in everyday life could not but give rise to numerous concerns related to security. Accepting the great convenience of this way of sharing and storing information, people, unfortunately, do not recognize the fact that the greater part of their personal data could be found on the Internet as the platforms that are used by individuals collect all information and store it. This pattern is created to increase the efficiency and convenience of a certain software. However, at the same time, this way of information exchange is dangerous. The fact is that there are no tools that could guarantee the absolute protection and prevent data leaks (Hossain & Zhang, 2015). Numerous hostile programs tend to collect the private data and explore it for various purposes. For this reason, no one could feel protected nowadays.
Privacy
Having become the part of the modern society and life, social media also provides numerous opportunities for businessmen, politicians, educators, etc. They use platforms to share the most important and even crucial information. Besides, relevant and feasible data brings power and guarantees success in the modern world. In this regard, in case a person loses some data that is important for his/her further rise and evolution, he/she will obviously face significant problems. Moreover, this data could be used by blackmailers or other swindlers to obtain extra income. For this reason, social media and other Internet resources require a great deal for security and privacy as the most important users information should remain undisclosed and private (Senthil , Saravanakumar, & Deepa, 2016). It now becomes one of the central tasks for numerous agencies and authorities as they also might suffer from the leaks of data.
Survey
To prove the relevance of the above-mentioned assumptions, a survey among ten people was conducted. They were asked several simple questions. These are:
- Do you use social media to share photos and other private information?
- Have you ever suffered from leaks of this private data?
- Do you feel secure when communicating or sharing information on the Internet?
- Do you think that some additional tools to guarantee security are needed?
- Will you refuse from the usage of social networks because of the existing security threat?
All ten respondents use social media and share private information. Moreover, six individuals experienced leaks of their photos, and it was painful for them. Nine respondents do not feel secure when using the Internet. All of them agree that security should be improved. However, they will still use the Internet as it is convenient and provides numerous opportunities for work.
References
Cawley, C. (2016). Is Your Gmail Account Among 42 Million Leaked Credentials?
Hossain, A., & Zhang, W. (2015). Privacy and Security Concern of Online Social Networks from User Perspective. Information systems security, n. pag.
Senthil ,N., Saravanakumar, K., & Deepa, K. (2016). On Privacy and Security in Social Media – A Comprehensive Study, Procedia Computer Science, 78, 114-119. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.02.019
Vaas, L. (2014). How Facebook leaked thousands of private messages all because of a typo.