The chaos following the cyberattacks on Las Vegas casinos now serves as a powerful reminder of our new world.
“Let’s take a look at the reality of where we are in the cyber world, and what can we do to prevent this from happening again?” said Charles Maranzano, former superintendent of the Dinwiddie School District.
From banks to movie studios, any institution with a digital database is vulnerable. School districts also came under attack in several states this year.
“You are concerned, because at risk are student records, which are highly protected,” Maranzano said.
The casino hacks came to light as the US Department of Defense publicly outlined its cybersecurity strategy, making it clear that cyberspace is the new battlefield.
Mike Eoyang, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, said, “As the cyber domain has grown, foreign adversaries have increasingly sought to identify vulnerabilities, conduct espionage, steal intellectual property, violate U.S. sovereignty, and most recently, wage war. Have taken advantage of it.”
And since most of our personal, financial and social data lives online forever, there’s only so much we can do to protect it.
“Some of this is unfortunate because it doesn’t matter how careful you and I are individually with our data if an institution has been compromised,” said Jeff Carberg, director of the identity theft program at the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. ”
But, the Maryland Attorney General’s office, where they’ve seen more cyber-based identity theft recently, has some ideas, including a credit freeze if you suspect your personal information has been compromised. .
“And that basically ensures that every account created in your name has to go through you,” Karberg said.
And for parents, keeping kids’ information safe is paramount.
“Not enough parents are teaching their children the basic principles of computer security,” Carberg said.
Things like not clicking on email links from an unknown source and learning how to spot scams. Use a firewall for adults and secure your home Internet – all efforts to shield you in a changed global battlefield.