In the article “The Perils
of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) talks about the ever increasing
danger of using the internet. The author writes about how recent news of
authorities and large corporations spying on citizens have surfaced. This problem
is further exacerbated since the internet is increasingly being used in many
areas of our lives, from communication to monetary transactions. Emm highlights
the importance of being careful about what information is made accessible to
others online as it may reach unintended audiences with malicious motives. Such
seemingly harmless information when pieced together or interpreted by the right
person can inadvertently reveal a trove of information about a person. Emm
states that these attackers are able to target any device able to connect to
the internet, and people are complacent when it comes to protecting their
handphones due to attacks being rare. People thus need to act with caution to
protect themselves these dangers.
The dangers of the online
world shared by the author seem to be exaggerated to gain online readership.
Although what he presents in his blogpost is factually true, he scares the
readers into believing that they are at risk more than they actually are by
introducing out of the ordinary situations as commonplace.
One idea given by Emm is
regarding the government collecting data from its citizens. Emm writes about
how “many feel uncomfortable” about this collection of information. However,
for many ordinary citizens who go about their daily lives, the government
monitoring their online activities should not be alarming since there is
nothing to hide. As long as the government uses these information gathered in a
respectable manner, there is no reason to be worried. After all, this data is
used to combat crimes and keep citizens safe. Emm misses the point that some of these information
collected under the guise of security purposes, are sometimes used to support
the government agenda by blackmailing and spying on dissidents. However, such
incidences are believed to be extremely rare and used on a very few vocal
people, thus this should not worry the majority.
In his blogpost, Emm writes
about the risks of posting information on one’s life online lest someone unintended
abuses the information for industrial benefit. The common man rarely, if at all
gets access to sensitive information for fear of revelation by accident. Even
so, little of the information that people work on is actually useful to a
particular someone else, and even more unlikely that this information justifies
breaking the law and hiring a professional hacker to extract out of the folly
of another. It is true that information that a person makes public online poses
a possible threat to him, but this is heavily dramatized in the article. For
example, few hold a position in key installations where information is so
sensitive such that there are hackers plotting and stalking these company’s
employees to exploit some information that might inadvertently be revealed. In
these companies there are standard protocols on how to handle such data
cautiously, aimed at preventing such leaks. It is almost absurd to think that
this is a viable way of getting information from company employees given that
the party with malicious intent cannot simply wait forever for the information to
be leaked in such fashion. Instead, hackers employ other methods to gain access
into another company which promise higher success rates such as the
exploitation of bugs in their network. Emm’s example is inaccurate to the
reality of the situation, and is perhaps written for the entertainment of the
reader.
Emm then moves on to the
social aspect, discussing the consequence of oversharing by using the example
of a boss reading an employee's facebook page. Emm again provides his readers
with a scenario that applies to a select few. To the minority population who
enjoy such lives of late night parties and partake in questionable content,
surely even fewer are foolish enough to make such information available to
their colleagues and bosses via social media lest they come under scrutiny. This
example is nevertheless able to capture the imagination of the reader by
providing great entertainment but perhaps little practical use.
Emm's article is dramatized
perhaps to provide a getaway to peoples mundane lives, citing examples which
are relevant to a small minority but capture the imagination of many.
There is however some truth in what Emm is trying to convey. It is true that
computers are being targeted and infected with viruses at a rampant rate.
However, the most malicious of viruses are usually to steal bank details,
credit card numbers, or to create illegal botnets. These are a real threat to
the population and their computers, and thus keeping ones computer protected
and avoiding shady sites and dubious links are usually more than sufficient in
keeping the average man safe.
Emm,
D. (2014, March 21). The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks [Web log
post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over-sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html
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