In the past few decades, cyber technology has become the foundation of everyday lives, and computers are, practically, the essence of living. However, if we are going to put our lives in the hands of fiber-optic networks nano-chips, there comes a great responsibility to maintain and protect them.
On Wednesday, July 8th, the unthinkable happened as the New York Stock Exchange, United Airlines and the Wall Street Journal were essentially shut down. Stock trades were at a standstill, flights were grounded and reading about it on WSJ was a bit of a difficulty. Officials from each of these organizations stated that the shutdowns were only from glitches in the computer and automation systems, but some are cagey that these events were an act of cyber terrorism.
Though there is question over what the cause of the cyber collapse was, these incidents are a stark reminder to us that technology is delicate, and even with new security software being developed, one little malfunction can take a toll on the backbone of our daily lives. Nowadays, companies utilize technology and the internet to operate in a global context. If this comes to a screeching halt, the consequences become much more than detrimental. As we saw last week, if some of the most powerful computer systems in the world can come to a screeching halt, no one on the internet is ever safe from technological a fiasco.
With an increase in online presence and usage comes an increased risk of something going wrong. How often have you heard someone mention that they lost data that was not backed up? Or experienced a crashing hard drive? Or that a cell phone fell in the toilet? Maintenance and protection to the hardware is crucial over time, as our technology becomes overfilled with data. While taking time and money to print off everything or save files to an external drive isn’t idyllic, the worst that could happen is that you don’t need to use the back up system. From personal experience, no amount of wishing is going to bring back lost files and photos that accidentally vanished much too soon.
Hopefully, the cause of this massive crash was not related to hacks from cyber terrorists. Yet it’s hard to deny that events of hacking don’t exist even on a smaller scale, most notably though identity theft or opening computers up to viruses. Thus, it’s even more imperative now than ever to be aware of our internet activity for safety’s sake of both our software and ourselves. Everyday over 160,000+ people are hacked, and this only on Facebook alone. Twitter, Instagram, email and other online accounts are not any safer. Most of us have probably gotten a rogue email now with a suspicious link, or have seen odd-looking comments on social media. Malicious hacking is everywhere, and what’s even more frightening is that there are websites explaining how to hack social media for personal reasons, but could easily be abused.
Technology is essential to our modern day lives, but like anything that helps us function, it needs to be treated with respect and conserved as much as possible. The internet is no longer a virtual place to hang out casually, but it is now where our lives take place. If this is where we “live,” then it’s crucial to do what’s best to protect ourselves from technological threats, whether digital or physical.
