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]]>Why It Matters
While the end to end encryption, or E2EE, is one of the simplest encrypting tools around, it is also the only reliable technique to protect your data from anyone luring between you and the person you are sending a message to. Regretfully, only a handful of SMS and messaging platforms use this option, and most government institutions avoid it because it reduces their operating speed. While this may be true for the obsolete systems used by government agencies, it is not for a regular user, as both premium VPN providers and the best Instant Messaging Apps offer this type of encryption without any reduction in internet speed and only minimal processing power usage.
There are only two reliable ways to protect your information when you are chatting someone up online. The first option is the IT equivalent of abstinence, as you should share as little as possible of your private life and sensitive information online. Regrettably, this is not always possible. The other option is using a VPN on all of your devices that will operate an E2EE. Apart from using first-party software in your company, this is the only reliable solution to secure all of your chats and messages right now.
While all VPN providers should encrypt their services with an end to end encryption, free VPN apps usually sacrifice this feature to promote larger speeds. To have the best from both worlds, you will need to use a reputable, professional VPN provider, such as OpenVPN, that offers both good speeds and a necessary E2EE connection.
Saving What’s Left of Our Privacy
For anyone being casually aware for the last two decades, our privacy has been under attack from multiple sides. While the media would like to portray the risk coming from lonely hackers wearing ski masks for some reason, the truth is that threats come equally from governments, large corporations, different institutions, and malicious individuals. On top of all that, there is a lot of malicious software that tries to collect some pieces of our personal data. This is usually so that it can provide us with better ads but often leads to something much worse.
Finally, because of social media, much of our basic information is already out there. Our names and phone numbers are usually connected with our profile picture. Because of this, it is of utmost importance to use a VPN and connect all of your devices, especially your mobile phone, to connect from a secure server.
Who is Eying Your Data and Why?
Three major groups would really like to know every move you make and every breath you take. The biggest one of those is not the Gotham Cities Commissioner Gordan, but the actual police, or more accurately the government behind it. Domestic governments use this for either censorship or security, depending on the country, and foreign ones are usually more interested in financial information and political ideology that citizens of another country might have.
Short of a few countries that wish to control the internet access of their citizens quite a bit, and average internet user will rarely see any consequences from governments spying on them.
This can’t be said for corporations, which are the next group in line. Corporations would want to have as much data on you as possible, and the recent scandals have shown that they are not beyond breaking the law to get there. Everything is done to record your internet patterns to provide you with ads that you won’t be able to miss and determining which services they would be able to charge you more. In general, companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, or Facebook collect about $9 worth of data from each of their users daily.
What Data are Cybercriminals After?
Finally, although individual cybercriminals are the least numerous group from the bunch, their attacks have the biggest impact on their victims. Namely, individual hackers are either looking for financial data or sensitive personal data. Financial data, such as your passwords, social security numbers, or saved banking logins are usually used in identity theft. While a timely response might save you from someone draining your bank account, it is possible to destroy your credit rating by making credit card debt, or even taking out online loans in your name. Even if you solve the problem, you might have issues for years to come from this one incident.
The second and often neglected information is your private correspondence. This may include anything from discussions about work to romantic texts and images. Hackers often take these messages and try to ransom them from you. The trouble is that paying would rarely make them stop, and later pushes them into blackmail long term.
The only way to protect your messages is to have an end to end encryption, and the safest way to be sure that everything you are doing is encrypted is to have a premium VPN installed on all of your devices.
What is End to End Encryption?
Not to go in too much technical detail, an E2EE connection means that there is a private key that only the sender and the end recipient have that decrypts the information sent. These encryption keys are quite long and complex keys and are nothing like a simple password. For anyone in the middle, the message you have sent would seem like gibberish, even if they would be able to intercept them.
This solution is very simple and quite similar to the ‘’decryption rings” that used to be in cereal boxes. Anyone that has the ring can read the message easily, and those without one just see random letters and numbers.
How does End to End Encryption Work?
To use the favourite couple in cryptography, Mark and Eve, as an example, it is very easy to understand how an E2EE (end to end encryption) connection works, and what happens when there is no such safety measure.
Mark and Eve want to communicate through the internet, but don’t know what sort of medium is between them, and they don’t trust it. There might be compromised servers, faulty nodes, or some malicious entity lurking between the two that can intercept their message and steal their information. That is why they are using an end to end encryption to make their messages safe.
Once the connection is established, two personal keys are made, one for Eve and one for Mark. These keys are very large prime numbers that very few humans can cite, especially as Prof. Hawking is no longer with us. These two numbers are shared between Mark and Eve and multiplied to create a public key encryption. This key can be intercepted, but without knowing how it was multiplied, it is nearly impossible to reverse the calculation, except if you have one of the numbers.
Now, when Mark wants to send a message to Eve, this data is encrypted with the public key, and decrypted with Eve’s private key. Anywhere between that the data is severely scrambled and impossible to decode. Read more on how data encryption works in our article here.
End to End Encryption Everyday Uses
In most cases, E2EE is used to secure personal and business conversations between people. Two decades ago it was only possible to do this on Short Message Systems, or SMS, while most phone calls couldn’t have been recorded digitally in the first place. With the development of the internet the risk of some software collecting your data increased exponentially, but so did your options when it comes to encryption.
Regretfully, many government institutions and large companies don’t want to use this type of encryption as it can slow correspondence down a bit. This small lack of patience often results in major data leaks and following lawsuits.
Similar to Mark and Eve, you shouldn’t trust any medium to be secure unless you have made it secure yourself.
End to End Encryption: The Top 6 Messaging Apps
Instant message apps, or chat apps, are something that most of us use every day. By current generation etiquette, it is even considered rude not to send a message prior to calling and to ask if you can call directly.
Technically, even the basic SMS app on your phone is a chat app, with stock Android users using the Google Messages app and iOS using an app of the same name, but from Apple. As these are widely considered not to be secure, people usually exchange these apps for something better, such as Whatsapp.
As these applications are one of the biggest sources of interpersonal communication, they are an often target of hackers. Using an unsafe app can be troublesome as you never know who might be looking. While you don’t think you are oversharing when chatting with friends, or that the data you are sending is not important, there is software that can go through thousands of messages as to find something that they can use. Encrypted messaging is the only way to be sure that your info is really safe.
#1 WhatsApp
WhatsApp is the most popular chat app in the world, and for a good reason. The main selling point for WhatsApp users is that it has a simple and reliable E2EE connection that is safe and secure for all parties. Additionally, there is very little involvement from WhatsApp in the encryption process, meaning that even if someone were able to break into the company files, your data would still be secure.
There are some issues with WhatsApp, which it shares with almost all apps. While the data you are sending is secure, your location and phone number are not. If combined with some other data points this can make a huge issue, and that is why you should still have a good VPN even if using WhatsApp.
#2 Viber
Viber used to be a contender for first place with WhatsApp at some point but is now fairly far behind. This is not due to safety, as it offers a comparable amount of protection, but mostly due to the app being a bit clunky.
Generally, the same rules apply here as well. Use a VPN, and you will be good.
#3 Signal
Signal is a new-comer and is one of my personal favourites. If full end-to-end encryption is what you’re after then Signal is the app for you.
Unlike Telegram, Signal doesn’t give it’s users the option when it comes to end-to-end encryption-It’s built into every single conversation. This includes message sync between all of your devices as well as group chats.
Because the app encrypts all messages, there’s no need to create private chats or group conversations with friends, family or co-workers. This makes it easier and there is no need to explain the ‘private or secret chats’. It just works.
#4 Facebook Messenger
While the Facebook Messenger app is only the second most popular messaging service, there are many more people using this service directly through Facebook than using the app. This connection does have an E2E encryption and is considered to be fairly safe as far as the messages themselves go.
What might be an issue and the reason many people prefer Whatsapp is that Facebook itself is not as safe as they declare. In the past few years, many leaks and data breaches have lowered the confidence in Facebook protecting our privacy. The scandal with even the company’s free VPN, Hola, being hacked means that you can’t use this sort of VPN. It is much better to use a premium VPN and be safe than to risk it.
#5 Telegram
While seen as a relative newcomer when it comes to instant messages, Telegram has incorporated a lot of good ideas from WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger while solving a couple of issues that these services have. Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram uses a cloud-based service to make chatting faster, as well as accessible from multiple devices. And unlike Facebook, this cloud server is not under direct control and supervision from the company.
While Telegram is generally considered to be safe with their MTProto protocol, the fact that there is data staying online is always a liability.
Thankfully, Telegram has incorporated an option to switch your chats to be strictly P2P, removing this issue for anyone concerned. Due to their data safety policy, using Telegram with a good VPN can make your messages virtually impenetrable to crack.
#6 Skype
When using an instant messaging app a lot comes down to personal preference. That being said, Microsoft objectively made a mistake when trying to make Skype a chat app instead of a professional service for video calls and voice calls.
First of all, the encryption on Skype is not an E2EE, but rather third-party encryption made by Skype itself. While this makes your voice and video messages somewhat safe from anyone on the outside, the third party encryption technology that they use is severely vulnerable against hacks that are coming directly at Skype or Microsoft. While the usual reason people cite for not using apps with E2EE SMS message security, the fact that Skype for mobile phones is slow, unreliable, and glitchy means that there is little reason to use it.
If you need to use Skype on mobile devices for any reason, the only way to keep your text messaging private is to us a very good VPN service provider. If you don’t rely on Skype as heavily, it is probably better to exchange it for some other application.
All previous mentions have both apps for Android and iOS, meaning that there is no reason not to use them.
Did GDPR Help?
The GDPR is often mocked due to the abundant emails that we all received about companies updating their privacy policy, but it is actually a great help in securing user data. While the law itself applies only to EU users, all companies that have headquarters or major audiences here have also complied.
By definition, the GDPR ensures that all of your private conversations can’t be recorded by companies and that any company that stores private information needs to have an encryption protocol for that information.
The law does dissuade EU companies from trying to access your data without asking but does little for your private text messages. To be safe in this regard, it is best to use a messaging service that has an end to end encryption, as well as a good VPN that will both encrypt your data and conceal your location and identity.
Accessibility over Protection
Some people might think that it is reasonable that, for some data, you don’t need to use a VPN or any encryption protocol as nobody would be interested and internet speed would be greater that way. While the latter might have been true a decade ago, now neither statements are correct.
First of all, there is always someone who can misuse the content you have on your computers, Android phones, or any other source. If there is no safety protocol in place, your info can be grabbed and used at any point in the future, for any kind of malicious purpose.
Lastly, with a modern VPN service provider, your internet speed will be only marginally smaller than without protection, especially if you connect to a VPN server in your country or a close by location. Regardless of the device you use, you will have good bandwidth and the possibility to use SMS messages and voice calls with certainty that your private conversation will stay private.
Using a VPN
If you are using a premium VPN provider, there will be very little issue in having your VPN connection on at all times, with no loss to speed for both the internet connection and your device. All VPN connections have an end to end encryption and are impossible to intercept.
Additionally, if the provider has a good app, it takes just seconds to connect, and the connection is always stable. Even switching servers take next to no time.
Finally, as there are many other advantages in using a VPN, it is best to use it as a cornerstone to your internet security. All other apps, encryption, passwords, or other features work best if supported with anonymity and security provided by a VPN.
Stay Private
When talking about cybersecurity, most people focus only on the software and hackers, which is not the most common source of data leaks. Most times governments, companies, and individuals obtain our information because we gave it to them directly.
This is why mindfulness while on the internet is as important as cybersecurity. Know who you are talking with and never give your private information away. By Australian and US laws, no government official will ask for your data online. If someone asks for your verification by requiring your private information, it is best to report that person to the authorities immediately.
Conclusion
An end to end encryption is a very simple but very reliable piece of software, and it is regretful that many large companies and institutions avoid using them. Any private person on the internet should not make the same mistake and should always keep him or herself safe, anonymous, and private.
By using a VPN you can relatively cheaply ensure your privacy and safety online, both when texting and when browsing the internet. Finally, on top of your VPN security, you should only use apps that have some sort of encryption protocol, and in case of your instant messaging apps, this should be an E2EE.
By using these tools, you can be certain that both you and the person on the other end can speak freely and safely. The only question you will be left is what to say.
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]]>The post Worried About 5G’s Health Effects? Don’t Be! appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.
]]>Top speed, convenience and instant gratification…that’s what we all expect from the internet. And from the way we are wired, the more we get it, the more we want it—and better!
But as the available networks become overwhelmed, providers are looking for the next big technology solution; the fifth generation is already here—5G. Of course, it’s very natural to wonder if the forthcoming, more powerful technology has any potential hazards for human health and the environment.
As carriers across the world rush to install 5G technology networks, some people are citing fears that this next gen wireless technology could pose far-reaching health risks. This seems to have sparked Covid-19 and 5G conspiracy theories during this global health pandemic. So… I sought to find out if you really have to be worried.
More than 180 scientists and doctors from across the globe (36 countries) recently made an appeal to the EU warning against the dangers of 5G. According to the critics, the new technology could lead to massive spikes in involuntary exposure to electromagnetic radiation.
On the other hand, the telecommunications industry experts have accused scientists of “fear mongering” over the 5G wireless technology and that since the research is funded by the public, they owe the public ethical responsibility to guarantee their safety.
This blog delves deeper into this peer-reviewed scientific research work and we hope by the time you finish reading it, your guess will be as good as ours.
Indeed, there’s little if any reason to even imagine that 5G frequencies are riskier than the other types of electromagnetic radiation such as visible light
Earlier in the year in the US, the Portland, Oregon city council moved a resolution requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to share its research findings about the potential health risks of the 5G wireless technology.
Last May, the House of Representatives in Louisiana made a resolution asking the state Department of Environment Quality and Department of Health to initiate a study about the environment and potential health effects of the 5G network.
In the meantime several Bay Area towns, Sebastopol and Mill Valley included, are plannng to stop carriers from setting up the 5G infrastructure.
“The impending roll out of 5G technology will require the installation of hundreds of thousands of ‘small cell’ sites in neighbourhoods and communities throughout the country, and these installations will emit higher-frequency radio waves than previous generations of cellular technology,” US representative Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) wrote in a letter to the FCC echoing earlier concerns about the latest technologies involving 5G.
There are real concerns as to how the 5G technology is being installed in the United States. And these concerns relate to security issues, the possibility of interfering with weather forecasting systems as well as the FCC stream-rolling local regulators in the name of fast-tracking the roll out of 5G network.
In Australia, negative media is limited at this stage and for good reason. The latest major setback was during August 2018 when Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would not allow Huawei in the the market. Huawei is the giant Chinese tech company that is suspected to have ties with the Communist Party, to build the country’s 5G network.
However, concerns raised over potential health impacts of the new 5G technology seem to have been blown out of proportion.
If you have not been worried about previous cellular service generations causing cancer, you shouldn’t be worried about 5G either
Most health-related issues about the impact of 5G emanate from a millimetre-wave technology which is high-frequency radio waves expected to deliver faster speeds.
The catch here is that the millimetre-wave transmission is far less reliable in longer distances than the transmission that uses lower frequencies which mobile carriers have been conventionally using.
To ensure that the 5G service is reliable, everywhere over millimetre-wave frequencies, mobile carriers will be required to have a higher number of smaller access points.
This has birthed two fears: First, the impact of millimetre-wave signals could be riskier than the traditional frequencies; and two the higher number of access points, with some being closer to households, might expose many to stronger radiation than the 4G service.
However, millimetre waves are not the only or primary way through which carriers can deliver the 5G service. Telstra 5G Mobile delivers the most ubiquitous 5G service available today. However, it relies on a band of low frequencies previously used in television broadcast. Meanwhile, other competing mobile internet providers gave re-purposed some of the “mid-band” spectrum it employs in 4G to offer 5G.
Currently, the primary focus of the wireless industry is the use of mid to low band frequencies for the new 5G since installing a hundreds of thousands of millimetre wave access points would be cumbersome and costly.
In essence, 5G is expected to continue riding on similar radio frequencies that have been the underlying technology for radio and television broadcast, mobile services, satellite communications, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Where 5g Fits in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
When carriers finally roll out the millimetre-wave coverage, there will be no need to worry given that visible light, radio waves and ultraviolet light all form part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The parts of the spectrum with higher frequency include x-rays and the gamma rays which are referred to as “ionising radiation”. Now these are the most damaging radiation as it can break molecular bonds and even cause cancer.
Radio waves including millimetre waves and the visible light are generally non-ionising which means they do not break molecular bonds. They contain higher frequency than the conventional broadcast frequencies; though they have weaker frequency than those of visible light and far lower than the ionising radiation like the x-rays, gamma rays and the shortwave ultraviolet light.
Calling it 5G and changing the frequency does not change the relevant biological health factor, which is energy.
Robert DeMott, an expert toxicologist specialising in risk assessment at Ramboll, a consulting firm
Another expert, Eric S. Swanson, professor of nuclear physics at the University of Pittsburgh says that visible light is one of the most common sources of higher-energy, higher-frequency electromagnetic energy than the millimetre waves or mobile phone frequencies. But this does not mean that continuous exposure to non-ionising radiation won’t have negative side effects. Generally, electromagnetic energy generates heat which apparently is the “one and only” health risk posed by radio waves, according to Demott.
This is backed by research on the biological effects of non-ionising radiation such as millimetre waves. In a study published in 2005 by the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety at IEEE, an engineering professional organisation, the over 1,300 peer-reviewed research on the biological effects of radio frequencies discovered that there there were “no adverse health effects that were not thermally related”.
To safeguard against effects related to heat, the FCC in conjunction with other regulators have set limits regarding the amount of energy to be emitted by wireless devices. “The normal consensus is that you don’t need to worry about a temperature increase of less than one degree Celsius because our bodies change by one degree Celsius in and of their own activities all the time, even at a cellular level,” DeMott says.
In conclusion
5G technology can’t replace 4G rather it will accompany 4G into the near future and potentially in the long run. More research needs to be done to ensure the cited synergistic effects from exposure do not cause harm. I mean, obviously the health issues raised are serious and deserve serious attention. Otherwise there’s no need to get too agitated about 5G.
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]]>The post Negative Feedback and How to Deal With It appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.
]]>Connecting and engaging with current and prospective customers on social networks is a fantastic way for a brand to show its human side, establish trust and loyalty as well as increase its awareness, traffic and ultimately sales.
As we know it, an engaged social media following comes with regular posts of questions, and comments on your page talking about what they like (or dislike) about your brand.
Ideally, your social media page can be your bank of positive feedback and great testimonials or your public disaster (a place where unhappy clients slam you with awry and negative comments).
As hard as you may try, it’s almost impossible for everyone to give your brand a glowing review. Unfortunately, social media is often the next destination where disgruntled users go on the offensive, ensuring that the rest of your community gets to know that they’re angry.
Your masses on social media can be ruthless, sometimes with good reason. But with your social profiles acting as the face of your brand, you need to handle with care any less-than-complimentary post that pops up from someone who likes your brand (or used to; so it appears)?
Here are five ways to deal with the negative comment smoothly, and in the best way possible.
1. Acknowledge Negative Feedback
In most cases customers post negative feedback online because they feel they are not being listened to (either through phone, email or in store). So they choose to lash out to be heard. Some may do this to genuinely warn others not to use what they believe is a poor product. But the more social media savvy fans will do it to simply hurt and compel you to pay attention.
Rapid response is of the essence here. Quickly acknowledging the client’s issue before it escalates and is picked up by other customers and prospects along the way can save you a lot of anguish. You don’t really need to have an immediate solution but an objective, non-judgmental enquiry into what exactly happened is enough to initiate the process towards constructive engagement and creating an opportunity to turn your negative experience into a rewarding one.
And of course, you’ll need to follow this up with solid, practical actions.
2. Take the conversation out of the spotlight
Forums on social media may not be ideal for resolving complex issues. More often than not, public forums make it easy for the unhappy customer to harden their stance. Courteously offer to go on with the conversation on an appropriate forum; whether through email, phone or any other existing online support forum. Taking the conversation out of the spotlight should not be used as a means to “delete” the comment or silence the critic. It’s better to have people view your constructive response to the negative comment posted by a customer than get a flood of messages condemning you for curating out every negative social media comment.
As a general rule of thumb, since you’re the admin of the page, never remove negative posts (this will only make it look like you’re hiding something). People always complain but as the social media manager, what you do after the complaint is what matters. Losing your cool would be the trashiest and most unprofessional fight your brand can ever have with a customer in public. Don’t do it!
3. Look at it from the customer’s perspective
Your customers don’t care about the issues that resulted to the problem they are having—whether a supplier let you down, or delivery was sent to the wrong address. All they understand is the inconvenience this has caused them, and possibly their customers.
Don’t be too quick to list all the excuses as to why it happened. Even if your reasons are all genuine, your irate customers won’t care. They will only view this as a way of shifting blame, turning it into a red rag to a bull.
It is worthwhile therefore to start every interaction from the customer’s viewpoint– what happened, what it meant to them and, ultimately, what you need to do to make it right.
4. Apologize when it’s your fault
Of course, managing social media isn’t for the faint-hearted. There are many companies on social media that find it really hard to say sorry. In most cases, it’s because they don’t want to bear the blame. Or probably don’t agree with the customer’s standpoint. But, if we can see it from the customer’s point of view as highlighted above, bitter arguments would be avoided.
So if it’s obvious that your product failed, a sincere apology followed by a quick refund or replacement should nip the whole issue in its bud. If it was a case of service failure, then an apology along the lines, “We’re truly sorry that you did not receive the service you expect from us on this particular occasion” would be a good start. Following this up with something tangible like a money-off voucher for their next purchase can also help calm the situation.
If the issue is universal, make an effort to personalise your responses without sounding like a robot so your customers are sure they’re not dealing with a customer service bot.
5. Walk the walk and talk the talk
Once you’ve acknowledged a problem, be sure to follow up with concrete actions to avoid going back where you began and potentially upsetting your customer and prospects even more. Once you’re out of the spotlight and got the conversation going with the unhappy customer, ensure you fully understand the problem and provide a realistic plan on the next steps to be used to fix it. If possible, pass this useful information on to your customer service representative.
In conclusion
The next time that negative feedback gets posted on your blog, Facebook or Twitter, the first thing to do is to take a deep breath. Especially when you’re just starting out, negative comments can really sting and with your ambition to succeed, you can be tempted to go personal. It’s crucial that you build a thick skin and deal with it calmly without blowing your top.
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