Today, people everywhere use internet in daily lives. Internet has now become something
that cannot be separated from us. But are WE completely safe from the dangers of massive
internet that are controlling our lives? There are two main types of security dangers we face:
hacking and government surveillance. First one is somewhat easy to guess while the latter might
think you of dystopian society where “Big Brother is watching you” like George Orwell’s 1984.
However, government surveillance is one of the key risks that people in America and also the
world along with advanced hacking.

So how impactful is the hacking to us, the normal people who are not widely­ acclaimed
or widely­known? Many people spend enormous time on internet but do not question the safety
of the source. Recently Kenneth Rapoza from Forbes magazine points out 10 security issues that
will threaten people on internet during 2013. It mostly included dangers of advanced hacking and
malware that will be implemented. Rapoza argues that there will be targeted attacks to steal
personal information such as social security number, credit card number you simply press down
on the keyboard effortlessly. Also hacker groups such as Anonymous are prevalent these days
that hack all your information and even crush the domain of the website by intervening.
Anonymous launched DDoS attack on Poland government websites in 2012 and even hacked
into the website that gives information about North Korea and involves North Koreans in the role. This means that people should be careful of internet even though it is something convenient

and inseparable from our lives in 21st century.

Hacking has become so prevalent that there are hacking contests and books even
programs to hack into computer and steal people’s information. This is problematic because we
are urging people to believe that hacking is cool thing, especially teenagers. Making hacking
seem glorious is encouraging to steal personal information and privacy. This effect will only
make identity theft to profligate and make people harder to squeeze their brains for password
ideas on websites. Of course, some hacking like groups such as Anonymous do it as political
statement. Anonymous hacked into government websites to criticize and even warned ISIS of
hacking through YouTube video. But that courageous political stance does not lessen the effect
of hacking in negative way.

Recently, public WiFi is also the risk on people’s privacy and made hacking so much
easier and convenient. Studies have shown that Wi­Fi connected devices could lead to
jeopardizing your personal information. This can be mainly focused on cell phone connected to
different software that could change temperature at home or even controlling cars. Researchers
from Princeton University researched whether this highly need of heavy security are gaining
enough protection. However, the answer they got was disappointments­ little or no protection
from these softwares. Princeton Ph.D student Sarthak Grover and Roya Ensafi claims that the
gadgets that people will plug into their phone would be highly in danger of identity theft and
other privacy issues when connected to insecure WiFi. While you might jump for joy for not
spending your own data plan and surfing Facebook for fast updates, it is making you more
vulnerable for hackers who take advantage of this vulnerability.

As I have mentioned before, hacking is not the only reason of threats in internet security.
Government surveillance is also one of the reasons that Rapoza pointed out. Rapoza claims that
government is taking one step further to use “technology monitor the activities of those
suspected of criminal activities.” The more government keeps watching over internet, Rapoza
says, the government intervention would continue to grow to violate intrusion of personal
information and civil liberties. He is correct because recently South Korean government passed
law named “Terror Prevention Act,” where it makes completely legal for government to look to
your text messages, email accounts or any source of information on internet to suppress
suspicious terrorism in the country. Then you might ask oh is South Korea governed by
totalitarian regime? The answer is NO. South Korea practices democracy and elects their
president every five years. Not only does this violate United States constitution regarding
freedom of people, this act also violates South Korea’s constitution. Ironical? Not really.
America also has done similar things to look over people’s information and oppress it by passing
Alien and Sedition Acts and taking advantage of Social Security System. Let’s talk about them
later.

So, why does government want to “look over us?” Truth is power, power, and power. In
the Executive Summary for “A FRAMEWORK FOR GLOBAL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE,”
it is stated “Privacy. It is essential to assure personal privacy in the networked environment if
people are to feel comfortable doing business across this new medium.” This executive summary
was during Clinton’s presidency where e­ commerce began to rise and be successful. If you look
at the quote about privacy, it does not seem there’s anything wrong. But this quote is somewhat
suspicious: “The Administration, in partnership with industry, is taking steps to promote the
development of a market driven public key infrastructure that will enable trust in encryption and
provide the safeguards that users and society will need.” This might sound like fantastic idea but
the idea that government collaborates with these industries is bit problematic to people’s
personal information possibly obtained by the government. By working with companies to
protect and benefit people, federal government might be taking advantage just like social
security. At first social security was meant to benefit people from New Deal programs during
Great Depression. Now with social security, government could track you down easy by
identifying you as a number. This government is trying extremely hard to track you down just
like social security numbers to gain more power.One of the examples of government taking
power over people’s rights and liberties was displayed in United States history during John
Adams’ presidency. During his presidency, he passed Alien and Sedition Acts that made illegal
to criticize the government. This violated first amendment of freedom of speech and press, since
some journalists were jailed for publishing articles criticizing Adams. Why does this really
matter to internet security? This is the historical background of government trying to overpower
the individuals. One of the reasons government wants to overwatch on internet is to suppress
opinions that might not be favorable or keep an eye on what internet media presents. This is
exactly same as Adams’ presidency did except that internet is more global and influential than
any other format of sending message or receiving information.

You might ask “Why does this really matter to us? What can we do about it” Well,
Edward Snowden once said “Arguing that you don’t care about privacy because you have
nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have
nothing to say.” We can start now collaborating to figure out how to protect internet safe.