Online Safety…
We have been constantly told the importance of keeping our information safe and making sure that any accounts we have are private and not to allow access to prevent cases of fraud which are sadly common online. There are tools and programmes that are built into relevant websites to allow people to input their personal data without fear of it becoming accessible to other users or more importantly to Internet hackers.
Web design Birmingham are one agency that ensure the sites that are built are safe and secure for all users and that the high levels of personal data are secure at all costs. Many big brands use encrypted codes built within websites that make it almost impossible for outsiders to access the information… or so they thought.
The Latest…
It has recently been reported that US and UK intelligence operatives were able to hack the encryption codes that meant a high amount of personal user date was able to be accessed including online banking information, medical records and private emails.
Obviously, this has caused a great deal of public concern and outrage as people are now concerned about what has been seen and accessed and how this information will now be used. National security claims that no information has been seen or used when intelligence broke through the security barriers, although the fears are still instilled in the public.
National security has also claimed that criminals and expert hackers would be unable to penetrate the security methods that are in place and the only reason the US and UK intelligence were able to break through the encryptions was due to the state of the art technology and increased knowledge base that is possessed by the teams.
Data Access…
This is not the first time recently that the Government has made an attempt to gain public information from the Internet. At the beginning of 2013, the US made up to 12,000 requests for personal information of over 20,000 separate accounts whilst the UK made over 1000 requests to be informed of personal data, required for government surveillance, mainly the risk of terror threats. This combined with the recent crack of online encryption seems as though world wide governments are neglecting the idea of privacy and are pushing forward with the Big Brother style approach to running a country and maintaining high levels of national security.
It has been claimed that the US and UK intelligence services are focusing now on the encryption of smartphones, email systems, online shopping capabilities and remote business communication networks.
The Future…
For now, governments are attempting to increase the amount of information they hold and are attempting to monitor the goings on of specific groups and people, especially those that could hold any threat to members of the public. However, the intrusion of privacy and the ability to access personal information has caused outrage amongst the public and has caused very real concerns that nothing is now private and that the government will use their power to access all manner of applications.
