Michelle Li, 2/12 Week 11 - Cybersecurity
Today in FLEX, my robotics teammate Julia excitedly pointed out that our robotics team’s Instagram Reel had reached 500 likes. The short video clip showed our robot scoring five specimens during the autonomous portion and garnered over 19,000 views. Yippee!
However, as we searched through the comment section, we noticed two comments criticizing the video. One was a valid comment pointing out how one sample had missed the observation zone and thus didn’t count, but the other falsely claimed that our hand was on the specimen when it came in contact with the claw—which is a penalty.
I noticed that one user had liked both comments, so I avenged my team by searching the user’s full name online. Within five minutes, I had found his Pinterest account, FRC Robotics team, the region of the Netherlands he lives in, and narrowed down the list of potential schools he could attend to just four.
I’m not trying to flex (get it?) my stalking skills; there are tons of things I don’t know about that user. If you dropped me in the middle of Brainport, Eindhoven, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to find him. Still, garnering so much information with minimal effort is admittedly terrifying. As we progress further into the digital age, cybersecurity is becoming more important than ever.
Our reliance on the Internet has publicized information most of us would prefer to keep private. We’re so used to having social media and online platforms that we’ve begun to inherently trust them, typing in our birthdays, credit card information, and checking off terms and conditions without sparing a second thought.
We don’t consider data leaks a threat until they happen on a large scale with companies we’re supposed to trust. In 2015, Elevance Health (formerly Anthem Inc.) revealed that 78.8 million people’s medical data records containing personal information had been stolen by criminal hackers. Ten years later, that information has probably been sold to the dark web, allowing for identity theft and easy access to security details.
The Internet is one of the most powerful and influential innovations of all time. However, its unintended consequences have resulted in the abuse of instantaneous access to information. From simple social media comments to the mass leakage of millions of medical records, the amount of data we entrust to online platforms is too much to count. But in this digital age, we can’t really stay offline, can we?
Hi Michelle, congratulations on the robotics video! I totally agree with how in today’s world we can not really stay offline without missing out on major opportunities. It is scary how normalized data leaks are now that people are not surprised when it happens. However, what's even worse than the data leaks are when the companies secretly sell our data (and the fact that we do not get a portion of the profit). A really intriguing ‘hack’ I once saw online to be more aware of our personal data, is that when a user signs up for something that includes their name the user should put their last name as the company's name. Doing that helps with tracking which companies are selling data secretly, because during advertisements we can see which name they are using. (eg: when we receive spam emails that oddly start with our full names)
ReplyDeleteHey Michelle!
ReplyDeleteI remember watching your robotics video, and as a fellow robotics kid, it was pretty cool! Right after I read your blog, I tried to find the person you were refering to and the fact I was able to is incredibly concerning. The topic of discussing the unchecked and dangerous power of the Internet is something which is discussed heavily, but there is never action taken to do anything about it. Your use of specific statistics , like including "78.8 million people's" data getting leaked, is powerful as it visualizes the magnitude of impact hackers have on people. Especially the fact that medical records were leaked, which are private and confedential, adds a more scary feeling to the risks around the digital world. Good luck on your robotics competiton this weekend, and do not stalk more random people on the internet (even if they criticize you).
Hi Michelle!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I wanted to say that while it’s not the best thing, finding out so much about that guy in 5 minutes is extremely impressive. Your blog really illustrated how simple it is to find out about people online, and it’s quite frightening! The fact that you were about to find out so much about the guy based on a comment really shows how easy it is. It’s incredible how much we rely on the internet without personal details without thinking about the risk. The part about the healthcare data breach was extremely unsettling, since medical records are meant to be one of the most secure things, yet even they aren’t completely safe. Your writing is extremely smooth, and I loved how you bridged your robotics experience to a broader experience of cybersecurity. Good luck in your future competitions!
Hi Michelle! Sometimes I get a bit scared of the Internet due to its sheer size; the thought that there’s people all around the world potentially looking at the same Instagram post as me is a little frightening. My number one Internet-related fear is definitely being posted or recorded without my knowledge; seeing people film videos in public or accidentally walking behind a group of people taking pictures is so scary in my opinion, because I don’t get to control how I’m being perceived by hundreds of thousands of people.
ReplyDeleteAs you pointed out in your blog, stalking people on the Internet is surprisingly easy. I’ve never wondered if I’ve been stalked on the Internet before until reading your blog—although there’s not much to dig up about my life. Massive data leaks such as the one you referenced in your post are also devastating to hear about; it seems like the security personal information is increasingly getting out of the owner’s control, which is why cybersecurity is so important today. Digital privacy feels almost impossible to attain, especially as the Internet rapidly expands. This is only tangentially related, but have you heard of the Dead Internet Theory? Also, good luck on your robotics competition!
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the robotics video! To answer your concluding question, yes, it is practically impossible to stay offline in this day and age; ironically, even these blogs and comments we write require us to go online. I agree that most people do not care about their information being put out there on the web until it happens to be a “mass data breakout” of some sort. Something that has helped me feel more comfortable online is telling myself that whatever I send online can be (and probably will be) accessible by anyone, even if it is considered “private”. Although it is not true most of the time, I vigilantly caution myself in certain areas where I end up not saying or sending anything that might put me in a bad situation. Great blog!
Hello Michelle, I would like to add to the discussion about the problem of cyber security. Have you heard of “Pimeyes.com” its an online database of images about almost every picture online. Ever uploaded a picture to websites like instagram or snapchat well these data brokers can scan through and identify them. It is crazy to think about the power one person can hold, your privacy and the authority you have over the dissemination of your personal information is completely non-existent. I would love to live off the grid and hide my identity, but that choice is one that is not given for me to make. Could you think about any other situation, you not having the right to say what you want to do with your body. And as we become more and more intertwined with technology, we may lose our identity.
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