Change Passwords as You Brush Your Teeth

For those who are worried about their cloud or just online data safety, it is high time to tighten the belt even further. As Donald Trump nestles in the Oval Office armchair, the U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as any other state connected to the Internet, are going to have their golden years in terms of open-ended opportunities for surveillance over U.S. citizens. Apart from being an Internet celebrity and the most notorious political player in the last couple of years, this joke turned out to be reality and will rule the most powerful and innovative army of the world, will get nuclear missiles launch codes, and, moreover, will be able to broaden the powers of agencies in surveillance over citizens within U.S. and abroad. Furthermore, the new American President is descent from power phenomenon. His statements in favour of broadening the powers of National Security Agency have demonstrated the businessman’s preferences more than once.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Right after Donald Trump’s presidential elections victory the media (mostly anglophone media) published a bunch of articles and analytical materials warning active (and non-active) cloud  technology and Internet users to think twice about protecting their online personal data. This is very urgent for the U.S. citizens, those who visit the country, and those who are rather interested in such blessing of the 21st-century civilisation as the Internet. In the past, the U.S. already demonstrated their negligence in providing ordinary citizens personal data security, having abused PRISM.

As life without the internet is something hard to imagine in the current conditions, one should follow a certain procedure known among the Western experts as “cyber hygiene” (the hygiene of one’s personal virtual space, rudimentary bases of digital security, as convenient). Use a two-stage identity verification for your accounts, without disregard towards Tor, in spite of the reputation it has, change your passwords more often, or even use the password generating software like 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass. Use the hard drive coding function on your computer which allows to somewhat secure data saved on your drive. Turn on the message encryption option when using Facebook messenger. Or use WhatsApp and Signal (as recommended by Edward Snowden), that have this function inscribed in the software. Some experts recommend installing Https Everywhere to use together with your Firefox, Chrome or Opera browser in order to make end-to-end connection and website search encryption.

Unfortunately, the efforts of the key Silicon Valley technological titans to assert their right and the rights of their clients on non-disclosure of all possible personal data are not likely to be successful in the long run. So it is highly recommended for all computer and online service users to follow the rudimentary rule of digital security and change the passwords on a monthly basis. It is applicable not only to the U.S. citizens but also to all Internet users all around the world. ​​​​​​​