As Wright students focus on their studies, it’s important for them to be aware of any cyber security threats that can delay or prevent their success.
Over the last couple of years, we as consumers have been participants of a vastly-growing technological era, with every aspect of our lives being more ingrained with computers as time passes. While it is convenient to have your information in a database for easy accessibility, it also makes it easier for hackers to access that information as well.
Being a fairly recent form of criminal activity, cyber crime has been on the rise; According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), they have received 3.7 million reports of different cyber attacks to their customers since ‘00. One notable example of a cyber attack is the recent hack on Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus in the nation, where hackers stole the information of millions of people, including credit info and social security numbers.
However, credit bureaus aren’t the only targets for cyber criminals. Considering that many people in the United States use Amazon, Google, Netflix and Hulu, and other various paid services that utilize credit card info, these can also be potential targets for hackers. Although these companies try their best to prevent attacks, flaws within the code of their security programs can be enough for people with nefarious intentions to invade and take what they want.
Stories and prospects of people having their information taken and misused is enough to give anyone cause for concern. The question is, are we concerned?
For the first question, the answers were mixed, with an equal amount of yes’ and no’s. When asked to elaborate, the people who said yes told me about how easy it is to have your information taken away, with one referencing the Sony Pictures hack that occurred back in November of 2014.
“I remember hearing about it on the news, but I didn’t really care at the time,” one of the students said. The people who said no reasoned that since they aren’t well known, they shouldn’t be targets of attacks.
Many of the responses for the second question was optimistic, with many of the students saying that hopefully Wright knows how to handle such situations, while few were confident that Wright wouldn’t be susceptible to attacks. No one denied the capability of the college.
The idea of someone stealing your identity is horrific, but being aware of it and knowing what to do in case it does happens to you is highly recommended. As we invest time in our studies, knowing how to do damage control when our economic lives grind to a halt is just another part of being responsible adults.