Lessons Learned
So what have we learned? Well, hopefully you’ve picked up a few major ideas with you such as these:
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Information is a currency; it has value.
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When you lose control over who has access to information, that information becomes exposed.
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Exposed (or currently unexposed) information carries a level of risk to you.
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While there are some very smart people working to secure the Internet, it is not a perfect system and there are a lot of problems.
So what can we take away from this? Should we just not use the Internet at all? Well, the Internet is here to stay, like it or not. So far, the benefits seem to outweigh the risks. It’s just too convenient! If you walked away from this experience remembering only one thing, it would be this:
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The price you’re paying for the conveniences of the Internet is information about you and the resultant increased risk to you. Think twice before releasing information, and always ask the question: "Is the risk/reward ratio in my favor?" |
This experience was meant to scare you a little bit and make you stop and think about your behavior. There are a lot of risks associated with using the Internet, but fortunately a good deal of them can be mitigated effectively through educating people. While you don’t have to become a security researcher, you owe it to yourself and those who depend on you to stay abreast of developments in the field—just enough to understand the risk tradeoffs.
As a parting gift, I want to share some resources with you so you can engage in the lifelong learning process. Just remember to keep your analytical skills sharply honed, so you can evaluate what you learn.
Stay safe! I hope you’ve had as much fun taking part in this WebQuest as I had writing it.