It’s official: your web-browsing data is up for grabs. Congress recently voted to roll back FCC consumer privacy protections, which means that your internet service provider (ISP) can legally begin monitoring and selling your data without your knowledge or permission. FOX News breaks down the four major ways that ISPs collect data: deep packet inspection, monitoring internet activity, tracking location, and assisting in government investigations.
Political opinions vary, but many have expressed dismay about the perceived cybersecurity risks of allowing third-party vendors to sell potentially sensitive data to the highest bidder. Some major ISPs including Comcast, Verizon and AT&T released public statement to assure customers that they have no intentions of selling their data, but those of us who value our sensitive information and trade secrets have taken cybersecurity into our own hands.
The first step? Set up a secure virtual private network (VPN) from a trustworthy provider. Quartz outlines the pros, cons and process of setting up your own VPN network at home, and if your Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) hasn’t already set up a private network at your company, that should become top priority.
Wait, your company doesn’t have a CISO? Then you’re already behind the times and putting your bottom line at risk. CEO Kevin Dinino broke it down for HATCH Magazine:
“The likelihood of a data breach or hack has reached a status of “when,” not “if…” [but] the IT team often isn’t privy to C-suite business decisions, and therein lies the problem. Enter the CISO. A CISO is a top-level executive role, and is included in boardroom discussions to ensure that the executive management team understands the company’s cybersecurity risks and factors them into business decisions. Security should augment and facilitate the flow of business, and upper management must help remove obstructions and impediments that compromise security of the company’s most critical assets: corporate and customer data.”
The struggle is real! Save yourself! Once your data has been breached, it becomes impossible to recover. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
