Why Should We Trust to Cyber?

Follow

These days many people are speculating about ongoing mass e-surveillance systems, which got applied by a lot of countries, but the best known is still an NSA project. As the most usual reason against those projects, some people see privacy breach concerns. But, what is a privacy? Why would our governments “spy” on us? Are we seriously toys in the Big Brother’s house? Let’s come with us to this discussion and you will find out much more.

Why Would Anyone Get Watched?

It seems that more than ever people are getting concerned for their privacy. Many of them see a privacy as an ability to keep your personal information confidential or even invisible to others. At this stage, it is obvious that you should choose a life in isolation, separated from your society, if you prefer to keep everything for yourself only.

It is natural that if you live with other people someone would know something about you. You cannot hide if you select to live amongst other people, you must share something with them.

Try to imagine that’s not you who is attempting to hide his privacy, but rather someone from your surrounding. What would you think about such a person? He is a sort of wired. And what else? You would start feeling insecure, because who knows what that guy does.

The similar situation is with surveillance systems. They are here to increase our security, to prevent us from the future crime and provide us valid evidence for a case. If some environment is connected with a risk and if we know such a place is an epicentre of the incidents, the only logical step we would do there is to start monitoring such a spot.

Here we are not talking only about cyber surveillance programmes, but rather about video monitoring systems in your shopping centre or in your bank or at your fried’s property. Are you concerned for your privacy when you go to bank or to school or to library? Indeed, you are not.

They also got video monitoring systems similar to cameras that we have on roads, they will seek you personal data, but you will not comply and you will continue coming there to leave them your money, let them educate your kids or offer you some great new book. Even your friend who is making a barbeque for you and your family and which home’s cameras can record you will not concern you. You will not see that as a privacy breach.

So, why would you get scared from an e-surveillance system? It’s similar as a system for surveillance of the physical environment, but it’s there to monitor an occurrence of cyber incidents. All those people who use cameras will do that to prevent some incidents to happen and that’s exactly the reason why we must monitor a cyberspace.

Billions of people today got the internet connection and it is normal to expect that with such a high concentration of people with a different social, economical and ethnic background in a cyberspace, there must exist some incidents or even criminal activities. Cybercrime costs global economy billions of dollars every year and that’s the reason why we must invest in a cyber security.

We Do not Believe in a Disordered Society

During the last few decades, we are the witnesses of a rapid technological development and overall human progress. Unluckily, there are still a lot of undeveloped or developing countries which societies are quite disordered.

Without putting things in place, it’s very hard to believe that such nations will ever make a progress through their development. Also, a disordered society is a place very suitable for criminals, terrorists and other malicious subjects. All these is a great disadvantage to people of such a country, but also a threat to the rest of the world.

If we talk about cyberspace, it’s not difficult to imagine that criminals form such a country will be in position to commit a crime and to stay unpunished. Why that happens? Well, the reason is their society is disordered; there are no laws that would recognise such an activity as a crime.

Once someone commits a crime and does not suffer consequences for his action, he will keep doing so. He got his safe paradise, his disordered country and an opportunity to enjoy his business to full threatening his own and other nations as well.

For such a reason, there is no place for disordered societies in the future. What the entire world needs is a progress and sustainable development for everyone.

Some Words about an Evidence-Based Security

Here we would mention some evidence-based security concerns. So, what is it for real? Practically, it’s more like a risk management which rely on evidence. Why is so important to have a good evidence at least?

Well, things like a video record, the information about your online activity and much more can be a valid proof through the investigation or on the court process. Sometimes they are the only things that can help us to conclude the case.

In order to resolve the case, you will start with some assumptions using some indications, but no one will believe your story got its basis in reality if you do not have an evidence.

That’s why an evidence-based security is something that can offer us an accurate and fair solution to the case.

So, Is That a Privacy Breach for Real?

As we said before, we will not assume that speed enforcement system or video monitoring system with our friend’s property or in a bank is a privacy breach to us, but we will comply that our governments are “spying” on us. Why? Why our bank is not breaching our privacy? Why we believe we are safe with our bank’s manger, but not with our security system?

The reason for that is completely irrational. We trust to our bank’s officer, school’s teacher or a librarian that they will not misuse what they know about us, because they are professionals and they are well-selected and trained for their jobs.

It’s silly how we hesitate to give the same amount of trust to security professionals. They chose one of the hardest careers, they are highly skilled and reliable. Also, even when everyone sleeps, they will be here for us to assure us a peaceful nap.

The reason why they monitor our cyber environment is only that to make our lives more secure, to prevent us from future crimes and to obtain evidence in case an incident occurs.

References:

[1] Prof. Didier Bigo at al., National Programmes for Mass Surveillance of Personal Data in EU Member Sates and Their Compatibility with EU Law, European Parliament, 2013