Personal Information Security

The digital information that have now become our digital identity have become more and more valuable, but the attention paid to protecting them has not increased in equal measure, and among the many reasons why this has not happened, the first is undoubtedly the lack of tangibility of the risks: we do not perceive them until they present the bill. Exactly what happens when somebody sign a contract with closed eyes. Even worse, we often entrust them to third parties who are neither able nor interested in truly protecting them. We have seen in recent years how even the most famous big names of the Internet have had very serious and unacceptable security problems, sometimes culpable but sometimes malicious. And what can happen when in addition to commercial interests, on top of our data, inclinations and behavior, also criminal or political interests surface?

We have filled our homes and offices with devices that sometimes work behind our backs, or we have chosen services thinking there was no alternative but to sacrifice our privacy and security. But even the apparently banal things can have a heavy bill; let’s make a few examples:

How many use passwords that are the same for all services, built on personal information (names, affections, birth dates, logical patterns…), because one does not know how to easily manage dozens and dozens of complex passwords, whose information used to create them are publicly visible on their social profiles?

How much of this information are even used to recover access to a bank account, such as with the “security questions” that have very little security?

How many post their movements on social networks allowing thieves to enter their homes at the best time, or post photos taken at home in which their security systems are visible?

How many use cloud services without knowing which of them by contract, can do whatever they want with the data they upload to them and that perhaps could be valuable projects?

Just as a financial culture can help to protect savings, a culture about the conscious use of technology can help protect oneself. Sometimes all it takes is small actions such as small habit changes to achieve great results, but the difficulty is figuring out where to start to get to the required awareness without necessarily becoming an IT expert.

This course was created exactly with that goal in mind. It tells events involving the technologies we use every day that are unknown to many, touching ethical and legal aspects. It collects all the most important actions and tools by contextualizing them and allowing even non-experts to start protecting themselves right away, coming to gain autonomy in choosing privacy-friendly IT applications and services.

Who this course is for:

• People with no experience in cybersecurity who want to gain a higher level of awareness about the dangers and defend themselves without becoming experts.
• People looking for practical, easy-to-apply tips for using their devices more securely and protecting their communications and sensitive information.
• People curious about the background of today’s most prevalent technologies and the events around the world that have seen them take center stage in recent years.