 We can find the location of loved ones almost instantly. We don't even need to contact them to find out where they are. You can look up the location of their phone using GPS. We watch any TV show we have subscription for in almost any location we have internet access. We can talk face to face even when we are thousands of miles apart using video conferencing. We find people we haven't seen in years with a simple search on Social Media and reconnect just as quickly with a simple message.
These benefits are truly an improvement on the way things were, but in our rush to use these new advantages a lot of people adopted technologies without fully understanding how being constantly connected presents a danger.
There was once a time when a threat actor needed to be reasonably close to you to cause you harm, unfortunately, those days are also gone. You can be robbed by someone sitting in a chair halfway around the world. You wouldn't know until it is too late. The damage is not limited to the cash in your pockets either. A digital theif can potentially steal everything you have, including your identity.
The Internet Protocol is a set of rules that devices use to communicate with each other. Communication is possible as long as both devices adhere to the rules. Because the rules are well known, they can be circumvented.
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 IP is very efficient at what it does. It establishes the connection and makes sure the message gets delivered. IP does not care if the person receiving the message is authorized to do so...
In many ways the IP protocol is like a postal worker. As long as the mail is delivered to the correct mailbox the job was done correctly. The postal worker is not responsible for making sure that the person retieving the mail from the mailbox is the person that is supposed to do so.
Since security is not inherently built into IP communication, it is up to us to change our mindset about how we communicate. Every piece of information coming to and from your device can be captured and read. The only thing a user can do to effectively limit this snooping is encrypt their transmissions.
The two most common types of encryption algorithms are symmetric and asymmetric.
Symmetric encryption, also known as a shared key or private key algorithm , uses the same key for encryption and decryption. Symmetric key ciphers are considered less expensive to produce and do not take as much computing power to encrypt and decrypt, meaning there is less of delay in decoding the data.
The drawback is that if an unauthorized person gets their hands on the key, they will be able to decrypt any messages and data sent between the parties. As such, the transfer of the shared key needs to be encrypted with a different cryptographic key, leading to a cycle of dependency.
Asymmetric encryption, also known as public-key cryptography, uses two separate keys to encrypt and decrypt data. One is a public key shared among all parties for encryption. Anyone with the public key can then send an encrypted message, but only the holders of the second, private key can decrypt the message.
Asymmetric encryption is considered more expensive to produce and takes more computing power to decrypt as the public encryption key is often large, between 1,024 and 2,048 bits. Asymmetric encryption is often not suited for large packets of data.
Unless you take the necessary precautions, any internet connected device is just waiting for something to connect to it. If this is an authorized user then great. If it is a threat actor, then bad things can happen. When you are asleep, your device is still up and connected. You know who else is still up and trying to connect? The bad guys, that's who. |
The New Gold Rush
The users, realizing the importance of protecting their digital claims, donned the armor of cybersecurity. Encryption became their shield, firewalls their fortress walls, and multi-factor authentication their gatekeepers. The digital prospectors formed alliances with cybersecurity experts, forging a community of defenders determined to safeguard their valuable assets.
That's what I did, I survived. I made some adjustments. I joined the rest of the Ne'er-Do-Wells that I had passed on my way to school. It was in that environment when people kept commenting on my intelligence I knew I had made some wrong moves, but the kids had to eat. What could I do but be a Ne'er-Do-Well Nerd and hope I can make life better for my kids. 
- When communicating over the internet, encryption is used to secure data transmission between devices. This is particularly important when accessing websites, online banking, or sending emails. Secure protocols like HTTPS use encryption to protect the data exchanged between your device and the server.
I like when things are in place, and it bothers me when things aren't. Security is something I've been familiar with my whole life because it's been absent for most of it. I grew up in Boston's underserved neighborhoods in the 1990's. If you didn't secure your assets, they would quickly become someone else's assets. Information you tried to keep confidential would often become public knowledge. Surviving that atmoshpere takes a special set of skills. I've acquired those skills and sharpended them to a knife's edge. Luckily for me, those skills transfer to the cybersecurity industry nicely.
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that, I'd have quite a few dollars and a little more patience. I just don't understand people that think this way.