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| dhs.gov |
This truly is a national issue as, according to the National Cybersecurity Institute's website, very few individuals have any understanding that mobile security is often the most risky, in terms of security. It is important that as a nation we understand the implications of our digital and mobile actions.
DHS Designates This October's National Cyber Security Awareness Month theme to be "Our Shared Responsibility," according to PRNewswire
This year's theme is "Our Shared Responsibility," which emphasizes the fact that it is in everyone's best interest to make the Internet a safer place to interact. The government is equally as responsible for cyber security as we are.
There are five main ideas connected to the theme that will be addressed:
1. STOP.THINK.CONNECT.
2. Cybersecurity in the Workplace
3.Connected Communities and Families
4. Our Evolving Digital Lives
5. Building the Next Generation of Cyber Professionals
Department of Homeland Security emphasizes each of these ideas on its campaign website, providing significant amounts of information for all audiences. These audiences include students, parents and educators, young professionals, older Americans, government, industry, small business, and law enforcement.
The student population is clearly the most relevant to our UMD community. 83% of Internet users fall in the 18-29 year old range use social media, which is one of the platforms which has the most potential to be compromised by a cyber threat.
DHS has indicated on their campaign website that social media, online identity, cyber predators, identity theft, fraud and phishing, and mobile security are the issues most relevant to our age bracket.
"More than one-third of smartphone users did not implement any mobile cybersecurity efforts," according to the National Cybersecurity Institute
With the consistently increasing presence of mobile media in our lives, it is definitely an are of concern. However, there are some fairly easy things DHS suggests, to make sure that our mobile devices remain uncompromised:
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| *According to Consumer Reports |
1. Use Strong Passwords
2. Keep Software up to date
3. Disable remote connectivity (Bluetooth)
4. Be careful of what you post and when
5. Guard your mobile device
6. Know your apps
7. Know the available resources
One of these resources, provided by the DHS website, is the FCC Smartphone Security Checker. This site allows you to select which kind of smartphone operating system you have-- Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry, Windows phone-- and for each kind of operating system the user is provided with "10 Steps to Smartphone Security" geared towards specifics within the phone.
Bluebox secures apps through their "Instant App Protect" service, which encrypts app data with three rings of protection
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| Bluebox.com |
Even after taking precautionary steps, it is possible that our devices are still not safe. The idea is best understood in a question posed by Adam Ely, founder and COO of Bluebox, a cybersecurity company, in an article on DarkReading.com, "If [our devices] were secure, why would iOS have needed over 100 security fixes from iOS 8 to 9?"
Our mobile devices all have their own security problems, none of them can protect us from threats 100% of the time. In fact, according to the Bluebox website, 75% of apps are expected to fail basic security tests.
According to an Aruba Networks survey on the National Cybersecurity Institute's website, more than 80% of users use their smartphone for work. It, then, becomes imperative for enterprises to understand how to protect the sensitive and significant information, as well as the creative capital that the employees may be keeping on their mobile devices.
This is why Ely's company, Bluebox, works to develop apps that are designed to protect against threats at the enterprise level.
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| Bluebox.com |
According to the Bluebox website, the app security system:
- Secures millions of apps with Instant App Protect
- Manages app security through a cloud system to gauge threat detection
- Enables all users with invisible security
Through their cloud system, Bluebox stores, protects, and manages the data of businesses and employees, preventing their sensitive corporate information from being compromised. By understanding how to protect the individual smartphone, even though it is for corporate use, Bluebox brings us one step closer to being fully protected.
As a piece of journalism, this is pretty good. It's well-written and easy to understand. The headline and section heads are essentially explanatory tweets, which is pretty much what they're looking for. The graphics fit in well: they're not too big, and they don't mess up the formatting and flow of the story.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the sequencing of the story doesn't match up with what this class wants of us. You identify the problem first and don't mention Bluebox until the very end. Following the inverted pyramid, you would at least mention it in the introduction, and probably focus on it throughout the story. Also, you rely a lot on lists from outside sources and then don't elaborate on them. I counted three separate lists, one in each section. I was left with lots of questions, such as "what does 'Stop. Think. Connect.' even mean?" Because I'm so studious, I went back and checked the link, but lots of people wouldn't. Even Buzzfeed stories elaborate a little on their lists. You also leave your lone graph (about passwords on smartphones) by itself, and don't relate to it in the story. (By the way, most smartphones also give the option of a pattern, which isn't included in here unless it's lumped in with PINs due to similar security strength).
It seems like your general message here is that individuals need to do a better job of making sure they're safe online. Obviously, most are too lazy to do everything that the DHS lists, but it's good to remain aware of the dangers that are out there. I enjoyed reading this, and you're definitely a good writer. Keep it up!