by Dave Moore, 10-20-19
“Pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween and National Cyber Security Awareness Month” reads a promotional graphic at the Cyber Security and Information Systems Information Analysis Center (CSIAC). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) co-lead National Cyber Security Awareness Month, with help from other government agencies with equally long and impressive names, like the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS).
If you can wade through the Mass of Long Names That Must be Contracted into Acronyms if Used More Than Once (MLNTMCAUMTO), you’ll learn that National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is a collaborative effort between government, academia and industry to ensure every American has the resources they need to stay safe and secure online while increasing the resilience of the Nation against cyber threats.
All kidding aside, this is a wonderful effort that could not be more timely or needed. “Own it. Secure it. Protect it,” is the theme of this year’s NCSAM, with emphasis on understanding, securing and maintaining your “digital profile.” “To protect yourself from becoming a victim of cybercrime you must understand, secure and maintain your digital profile,” reads the CSIAC website. “Understand the devices and applications you use every day to help keep you and your information safe and secure. Protect against cyber threats by learning about security features available on the equipment and software you use.”
What defines a “digital profile” is never really explained, though there is some good information on the various NCSAM websites that can lead one to cobble together their own definition. Looking elsewhere, though, the Whatis.com website provides a pretty good definition of “digital profiling,” written by Margaret Rouse, and found at whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-profiling. It is important to understand what your digital profile is before you can start protecting it.
“Digital profiling is the process of gathering and analyzing information about an individual that exists online,” writes Rouse. “A digital profile can include information about personal characteristics, behaviors, affiliations, connections and interactions. Digital profiling is used in marketing, enterprise security, criminal justice and recruitment, among other areas.”
Examples include: “digital profiling is used to identify suspect employees and protect the organization from an insider threat. An employee may be singled out because of suspicious behavior. To determine whether he really poses a risk to the company, his online behavior may be scrutinized and a digital profile assembled.” “In criminal justice, digital profiling is used to identify suspected criminals and people of interest.” “In human resources (HR), recruiters and hiring managers use digital profiling to find and assess potential employees. In combination with traditional employee vetting using resumes and interviews, potential hires are evaluated based on their digital profiles, or ‘online footprints.'”
In short, your digital profile is a collection and assessment of anything and everything you’ve ever done on the Internet. Every email, every tweet, every text, every insurance claim filed, every Facebook post, every click, every friend and relative you have, every website visit, every purchase, everywhere you’ve lived, every job you’ve had, every law enforcement encounter, every video watched and song listened to, every story read or ad visited are only some of the things that are dumped into your digital profile bucket.
Your digital profile bucket is then stirred and sifted by artificial intelligence algorithms and nameless, faceless human decision makers you’ve never met to determine what you will be allowed to do in the digitally dominated world in which we live.
Internet safety training is no longer optional if you want to survive in the modern age. It is no longer OK to not know how the Internet works. National Cyber Security Awareness Month is one of the better ideas ever invented by a government agency. I encourage you to visit staysafeonline.org/ncsam and learn more.
Dave Moore has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd, he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.com