ONLINE… THE INTERWEB… THE INTERNET!
The internet, the net, the information super highway, the web, ‘www’, the virtual world, cyber space…. what is it really and why does it seem now that our lives depend upon it?
Until 1983, transmission of digital information around the globe (mainly for military purposes) was arduous as there was no standard protocol for the transfer of data between different computer systems used by the various agencies globally. Engineers and scientists developed a standard protocol, which later formed the bedrock of the modern-day Internet services.
But it wasn’t until 1990 when British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (hence ‘www’) as we know it today.
HOW THE INTERNET CHANGED OUR LIVES
So, what’s happened in the past twenty years that has changed all our lives, not only in the REAL world, but also the VIRTUAL world?
We have gone from making phone calls and sending faxes to all out ‘cyber’ communications. We have emails, Facebook messenger, Instagram messaging, What’s App, Twitter messaging, LinkedIn messaging, Google hang outs messaging. We have landline phone systems that only require and Internet connection (Fibre based circuits are the minimum standard now) and most of all, from the early days of just hosting ‘static’ websites as digital ‘brochures’, we have a full suite of ‘dynamic’, application-based services all hosted on mega computers, processing billions of pieces of information, every second of every minute of every hour of every day with companies making millions and losing millions on just one stroke of a key!
People without any formal education (and in some cases zero personality) can become millionaires just based on their looks and going to the gym or just going on holiday. They are not doing anything tangible for the human race, yet we subscribe to their channels anyway.
USING THE INTERNET ANYWHERE!
We have stuck our lives on Servers and hyper-computers so we can access the information ‘from anywhere in the world’. If we are in an airport, hotel lobby, café or by the swimming pool, we look for w Wi-Fi signal so that we can check the latest football results and our ACCA betting slips.
Our credit card details are on shopping sites, with password stored via Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers on our PCs, Laptops, Tablets and most of all, on out smartphones that we carry like a spare bag of blood that we can’t live without,
Quantum computing is being developed to process information in the hope that we will have lighting speed answers to our internet searches.
Our memories are lapsing as we don’t have to remember anything! Some would say, “we can look it up with ease so why waste ‘brain’ power unnecessarily?” So, it seems that we are so dependant on our phones, we use the ‘Map’ functions to direct us to the same shop, day in, day out…. or so it seems!
THE RISE OF CYBER CRIME & ONLINE PROTECTION
So, we have the good impact to businesses where consumers can access online shops, 24hours a day, 7 days a week and make purchases, delivered straight to our door.
We have business to business services where, for example, an IT department for a large company can buy security licences (let’s say antivirus software), from a specialist IT reseller, pay online and download the entire service onto the organisation without leaving their chairs.
So, what’s the flip side to this ‘harmless’ evolution of the ‘internet’ and ‘world wide web?’ Two words – CYBER CRIMINALS.
At the end of 2016, it was estimated that just in the UK, the financial loss to consumers was a staggering £8 billion! And that was just in the FINANCIAL sector. Since 2015. Up to 2020 an estimated £87 billion has been defrauded by online criminals sending fake emails, texts, automated calls and in some cases, letters asking people to log on to spoof websites and ‘sign in’ to check their details. Not everyone reports these crimes either.
Systems are getting tighter but criminals are getting smarter. Whilst writing this, criminals were sending out what looked like a legitimate Google ‘Captcha’ form (usually to prove you are NOT a robot) and stealing the credentials of Microsoft Office 365 accounts (with a view of gaining access to a company’s details, and log-ins to Servers (holding customer information, no doubt).
We make it too easy sometimes with our ‘memorable’ passwords, that are easily hacked.
How many of your ‘friends’ have you received a message from, via ‘messenger’, asking to ‘click the link’ to login in? Then an our later you see a post from said friend, saying their account has been ‘hacked’ and don’t press the link.
Business cyber security and email security are specialist services which are totally different from antivirus and anti-spam.
To make sure you are getting the best products and services available for your business, you need to get advice from a suitably qualified ‘Managed Service Provider’ (MSP) such as ourselves at Maximum Networks.
MAXIMUM NETWORKS
Get in touch with the Maximum Networks team team today on 0330 102 7444 or using our contact form