In response to today’s 14:30 “internet and privacy” debate in Westminster Hall, security expert Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist for antivirus software pioneer G Data, has called for the UK to appoint a home internet-security tsar. Such a person would be tasked with educating home computer users about the risks of malware and home internet security.
People in Britain, like Robert Halfon MP, are rightly justified by Google’s inadvertent capture of personal data during its Street View project, but wholly blaming Google for the invasion of privacy will not solve the problem.”
No one doubts that individuals have a right to privacy, however just as homeowners have learned to lock their front doors to keep their homes safe, so they must also appreciate the need to password-protect and encrypt their home WiFi networks to avoid accidental or deliberate interception of their data.
Although Google will be heavily criticised for what has happened I believe they have actually done the world a favour by exposing the current vulnerability of far too many home WiFi networks. There are more sinister forces than Google out there and the public needs to ensure their data is adequately protected.
Now that 76.8% of the public have access to the internet British society is increasingly exposed to data theft, phishing, and malware threats that many people, especially silver-surfers, have never been educated about.
The government should appoint a high-profile tsar to spearhead an educational campaign in the same way the government has previously targeted smoking, seatbelt-safety and home smoke alarms. A home internet-security tsar would be tasked with reducing levels of cyber-crime in Britain working alongside the antivirus industry, the home office and the department of education.
www.gdatasoftware.co.uk