UNHACKABLE : Your Online Security Playbook: Recreating Cyber Security in an Unsecure World

By George Mansour

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writes Publishing House
• Release date: May 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648731280

George Mansour

George Mansour has a unique and simplified approach to cybersecurity. As a trusted IT specialist for more than twenty years, he helps clients overcome the debilitating effects of cybersecurity issues. His distinctive methods have allowed him to emerge as an industry leader for individuals and businesses seeking to find a more secure system. George understands the imminent threat facing anyone connected online. His goal is to empower end-users with the tools to secure their digital assets using proper protocols. He seeks to enhance the validity of his client's lives, by teaching them the basics of online security. The systems, products, and services he uses are designed to prevent a breach before it happens. Preventative methods are always preferred. It is imperative that users become proactive, because cognitive distortion has taken over our senses. We need a compass to navigate the Internet in real-time, and we need to develop a license agreement with ourselves that isolates our unique, sensitive data.

Book preview

Awakening

Reevaluate Your Relationship

with Technology

Chapter 1

Awareness Is Everything

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

—Wayne Dyer

The most important step to becoming Unhackable is an awareness of your surroundings. But where does awareness come from? It comes from knowing that nothing is secure; our lives have become too complicated. We are influenced by our families, cultures, and society. However, to truly understand our place in society, we must acknowledge where we are, what we're doing, and where we should go. We must alter our perception of technology and the security challenges it places upon our daily lives. In doing so, it will question the relationship we carry with those electronic devices and how they negatively impact our state of mind.

The everyday user has no control over the Internet, but we can regulate the amount of accessible information. Since the invention of the Internet, people went from storing private data offline in a secure setting to uploading that material in an unsecured environment. In doing so, we have exposed ourselves to the world during a time of cyber warfare with no defense plan. It has become a professional hacker’s heaven.

Nine out of ten people have absolutely no idea how exposed their data is to violators. I cringe whenever someone tells me they have never been hacked. Reality would tell another story; more than likely, good hackers get in and take what they want without ever being caught. Society loses thousands of dollars due to data breaches every year.

Until today, nothing has changed regarding our core problems. We have just covered the issues with newer technology and introduced a more globalized problem. We lacked focus on discipline and consistency because we had no extra time, yet new technology was supposed to give us that and more, by making our life easy, fast, and interconnected anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.

The technology that is supposed to make our lives safer and more freedom-based has created a whole new world of issues. You should be asking yourself: what is the purpose of all this digital innovation? The technology itself has become more dangerous than any weapon we have ever created.

We must wake up! When the Internet became widely used, it was referred to as a revolution of the digital age, connecting society worldwide. It was a time to rejoice over the ability to interact seamlessly without boundaries. Underdeveloped countries could join the 21st century. Humanity could grow through invisible borders. But the invention brought about an unknown risk. A danger that has cost much more than money, it’s diminishing the conscious thought among humans. The time for transformation has become a necessity in modern times. Our awareness has faltered; we are being nurtured to depend solely on technology instead of human consciousness.

The process to rebuild our awareness is education. We are taking measures to secure our lives offline, so why would connecting online be any different? It’s imperative we know what’s happening with our electronic connections at all times to avoid any dark alleys in cyberspace. When traveling in unfamiliar territory, it is important to follow the road signs for directions.

Technology in Our Everyday Lives

Most of us go online and choose to do things over the Internet because it’s quick and easy; we choose convenience over security. We all love technology, but we must also control digital innovations, we cannot allow them to control us.

Technological advancements continue to make everything easier by making Internet access a constant connection. In the past, we had to sit behind a desk to use a computer, but with the creation of portable devices, connection follows you everywhere.

Advances in technology are happening so quickly, nobody is slowing down to think about how technology is impacting our lives. The Next Web article The Incredible Growth of the Internet Over the Past Five Years—Explained in Detail clearly identifies just how quickly the Internet and social media sites are taking over the world:

Internet users have grown by 82%, or almost 1.7 billion people, since January 2012. That translates to almost 1 million new users each day, or more than 10 new users every second;

More than 1.3 billion people started using social media – that’s a rise of 88% in just five years, and equates to more than 8 new users every second;

The number of mobile connections in use grew by a whopping 2.2 billion,       meaning that operators activated a net average of almost 14 new subscriptions every second to deliver growth of 37%;

We’ve only been publishing mobile social media user numbers since January 2015, but users have grown by more than 50% in those two years alone. More than 864 million people have started using social platforms via a mobile device in the past 24 months, at a rate of almost 14 new users every second.¹

It is estimated that four billion people and over forty billion devices will be connected to the Internet.² That is huge growth! Everyone is embracing technology, but very few truly understand the danger it presents.

Keeping Up with the Dangers of Technology

"Computer security, cybersecurity or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems from theft or damage to their hardware, software or electronic data, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide."³ Although digital technology use continues to increase, many users do not understand cybersecurity or why it is important to our safety. The field is expanding rapidly, due to our reliance on computing systems like IoT (Internet of Things), which is adding a new set of problems for every area of life. Society is being pushed to merge with smart technology without providing the education to consolidate or secure our data, making it defenseless before switching to the latest phone, gadget, or updates. These inventions also opened the doors for professional hackers to steal precious data from unsuspecting users. The development of a proper security system takes time and discipline. Many of the technological advancements were created to reduce conflicts, improve health, or procure financial security for many people. Our impulse to feed the instant gratification eliminates any chance of truly settling, learning, and enjoying the advancements.

Recently, a client contacted me and asked for some help reclaiming data from her photo shoot. Sally initially called her phone carrier and asked for assistance, but they were unable to recover the photos. She was informed, You need to go see an expert in data recovery. Sally contacted me through a friend, as she was in a state of panic. It was determined that her data was completely disorganized. The information was scattered across multiple devices stored online, but was not unrecoverable. The primary concern should be to keep your data in one central location. Once I was able to organize her material, the images were recovered, thereby proving the importance of storing data in a structured location.

In times of trouble, users need to depend on themselves for the solution. We have become so accustomed to technology that the rapid changes are overlooked. The constant struggle to keep up has been nurtured into daily behavior. To establish a management process that safeguards digital life, you must depend on the human connection. We are blinded to the issues facing society. Individuals forget what it means to think before they act.

These technological advancements are supposed to help us organize our lives, but often these tools end up creating new conflicts. Smartphones were supposed to help us multitask and get more done faster and easier; instead users are distracted with multitasking on their devices, stopping them from completing one simple task before moving to the next. We are so accustomed to technology, but it is all changing so quickly that by the time we feel comfortable and have mastered the problem, we are at the bottom level, learning all over again.

Data supports my theory: a recent survey completed by The Pew Center for Internet, Science, and Technology clearly demonstrates how unaware the majority of people are about Internet safety. The Security Ledger analyzed the data from the survey and the results are very concerning:

U.S. adults may be able to identify a strong password when they see one, but on many questions of how to identify and protect themselves from online threats, they are worryingly ignorant.

Less than half of Americans knew what ransomware was or understood that their email messages and wireless traffic are not encrypted by default. Just 16 percent correctly identified a description of a "botnet." And, in an age of widespread password theft and account takeovers, just 10 percent of adults could identify an example of multi-factor authentication. The results have implications for employers and public policy experts alike, as sophisticated cyber-attacks often rely on so-called "social engineering" attacks on individuals, especially in their earliest stages.⁴

Protection from hackers is impossible if you are not informed. Anyone can help secure themselves if they understand the basic terminology and are aware of how it can be used to either hurt or protect them.

Dependency—Technology controls us because of our dependency.

To develop an Unhackable mindset, the awareness of our dependency is imperative.

As technology use increases, we will become reliant if something does not change. Innovation was meant to improve our lives, but instead, it has created Internet dependency that interferes with many people's lives. Even if you are not clinically diagnosed with Internet Addiction Disorder, chances are, you still use social media more often than you should. The constant connection makes users vulnerable to hackers or businesses who seek to take data for profit. The addictive behavior isn’t entirely your fault, and it isn’t an accident. Chapter 3—Modern Data Gathering will explain how and why we are so drawn to social media.

Now that you have a better awareness of our role in technology and how it plays into everyday life, it’s time to learn how society became so dependent on technology.

Chapter 2

Our Changing Relationship with