Whilst there are a plethora of different data security methods available I’ve highlighted 5 methods that I believe are the most effective and could be the best ways to protect my own blog in the future. Once I’m famous this will be necessary to protect my genius insights.
1. Firewall
The firewall is the most basic yet arguably the most important utility in the realm of data security. The job of a firewall is to monitor and manage incoming and outgoing connections to and from your computer to protect it from harmful intrusions. If a website or connection is deemed as a threat the firewall will prevent it from accessing the internet in the case of a program and prevent it from accessing your computer in the case of an incoming connection request. Without a firewall your computer and data are at huge risks, however a firewall does not mean you’re invincible as hackers have ways of tricking firewalls into trusting their hack programs and viruses. A firewall being applied to my blog can protect it from unwanted connections from people who could potentially hack into it and use it for their own benefits. Many blogs are at risk because their large reach can be used for someone else’s agenda to distribute viruses or worms.
2. Antivirus Software
A good firewall is an important part of cyber security however if it is not coupled with strong anti-virus software it leaves large holes in your data protection system. An anti-virus program constantly scans and analyses all the files on your computer to identify potential threats such as viruses and worms. If one is detected it immediately either deletes it or quarantines it to be dealt with at a later date. Anti-virus software is the Robin to Firewall’s Batman where ideally they work the best when they’re used together. When it comes to my blog if I decide to have it loaded from an external server where the posts and pages are saved on a hard drive anti-virus software will be crucial to defend my blog from viruses that could spread to my viewers.
3. Early attack warning and detection system
Nowadays it is seen as a liability to deal with cyber attacks as they happen because some damage can be done before you fully eliminate the problem. The solution to this is that many companies and services are adopting early protection and detection systems that identify potential risks and eliminates them before they can become a problem. This system follows the age-old saying of “prevention is better than cure”, where preventing something from doing harm in the first place is more efficient than stopping something from causing further harm after it has already done damage. Identifying early threats could be crucial to defending my blog from potential attackers. The more traction and views the blog gets the more it will be in the eye of hackers to abuse and identifying those kinds of threats and snuffing them out before they can take advantage of my blog will be crucial and using a piece of software to do that for me will add another layer to my blog.
4. Ethical Hacking
In order to defend against more advanced hacking methods, many companies employ the services of ethical hackers that purposefully try and hack into a company’s network and systems to test the strength of the network’s defenses. If they manage to break through the company can put contingencies in to combat the method the hacker used to break through and the hacker can provide insight as to how to best defend against these types of attacks. This can be paired with the early warning and detection system so I can test the security of my blog. Hiring an ethical hacker to attempt to get into the system as best as they can will allow me to identify weak points and reinforce them.
5. Self-Awareness
Whilst all the other methods involve either the use of software or a professional, self-awareness is often the most vital of all data security methods. If you want to ensure that your data is as protected as possible you as an internet user needs to be careful as to the practices that you use when using the internet. Ensure you don’t have the same password for every website, don’t use personal info in your passwords, don’t connect to public or unknown Wi-Fi connections and when accessing some sites use a VPN to prevent your IP address from being tracked. Knowing myself I often make most of the data security programs I have due to irresponsible browsing etiquette. If I exercise safety precautions and be careful about what WiFi I use to write posts and if I make sure to update my password often my blog should be safe from those kinds of mistakes leading to bigger threats.
Simon's Approach to Digital Law and Ethics 