- Protecting our data online can be difficult,
depending on how we're used to browsing the web.
We learn more about some common bad habits,
as well as how to break them from Matt Hashim,
an expert in security and privacy
at the UA Eller College of Management.
Remind our viewers that anytime you use the internet,
we're somehow products.
Tell me about that.
- That's right.
I mean if go to a website like Facebook or Twitter,
or Amazon, or Google, or any of these sites
without picking on any of them,
are they free or are you paying for it?
So if they're free,
they're not just giving that away
because it makes them feel good.
They're giving that away
because you use and collect your data,
and then sell that
or use that in other ways to make some money.
- So in essence, anytime we make a move
on our smartphone or the computer,
it's being viewed by some other entity that's using it?
- It's possible.
- Okay.
- So yeah.
We have to be careful.
We don't want to be
totally afraid and paranoid about using technology,
but we need to know that there's not really
this expectation that everything I do
is between me and that particular site that I'm going to.
There may be some sharing
or some use of that data in other ways.
- So where's the balance between
I want to enjoy the internet,
but I also have some level of an expectation of privacy?
What can we do?
- Think carefully about what you would
tell people in person,
versus what you wouldn't tell somebody in person.
That's kind of a good pretty general rule of thumb.
If I may not tell you very personal details about myself,
but I may tell a family member
very detailed personal information,
and so the stranger or the acquaintance
is that person on a Facebook or a Twitter or whatever.
So if I don't really feel comfortable
sharing that with an acquaintance,
I shouldn't put it out there, right?
And as far as visiting sites
that we want to feel safe about.
I would say go with some
of the names that you know and trust.
I have a funny little example I can share with you.
My son came to me the other day and said,
dad, I really want this game.
Look, it's only 25 dollars on this website.
I said okay, well, I'll look that up on Amazon,
because I know they're a reputable retailer,
and it was about 50 dollars.
I said you know, that's probably too good to be true,
and if you think it's probably too good to be true,
you probably shouldn't do it.
- There are other things like using Wi-Fi in public,
or authentication measures that sometimes come up.
Those are things we uought keep an eye out for.
- Yeah, absolutely!
I think this is a funny one.
Even in my own classes,
I try to make my students aware of this.
If I'm on public Wi-Fi,
and public Wi-Fi meaning I'm at a coffee shop
and they're giving free Wi-Fi,
or I'm at a restaurant and they're giving free Wi-Fi,
or a ballgame or whatever,
there should not be 100% confidence
that someone else is not intercepting my data.
So if I'm at a public Wi-Fi, I don't do banking.
I don't do business on public Wi-Fi.
I guess the one thing
I would tell people about account security,
any website, is passwords.
We need to have strong passwords,
but we need to enable what's called
two-step authentication or two-factor, or multi-factor.
It's labeled many different ways,
but I was just looking recently on Google.
You go into your Google account,
you click on the security tab,
and there's an option there
to enable two-step authentication,
and what that means is the first step is your password,
which we're all gonna have passwords.
The second step is something else.
It's a code.
It's something I have to have my phone.
It's a second factor, and so the idea there is
if you make it hard for the attacker
to get that second factor,
that second step, they're gonna move on.
They're gonna go attack someone else
that only has a password enabled.
- You can never be too careful.
- You can't be too careful,
but you want to enjoy technology,
so just be aware that there are threats out there
and try to make the best decisions that you can.
- Okay, Dr. Hashim, thank you.
- Thank you.