Cybersecurity: The importance of protecting our data

The growing number of new technologies that have emerged in recent times have allowed private users and institutions greater freedom to manage their professional lives, finances, and social lives. However, they bring with them fresh challenges. The flow of personal data generated by these new technologies may leave our privacy exposed, meaning the concept of cybersecurity is increasingly critical.

Before going on, it is important to state that there is no official definition for the term cybersecurity, but it can be described as encompassing all actions taken to protect the data generated via network-connected devices. The aim is to minimize the potential for malicious attacks.

The growing concern over our privacy is well justified, with regular news reports of cyber-attacks taking place.

Such attacks are not only directed at tech firms, and indeed plenty of other sectors have also been targeted recently. One example is the giant aluminum manufacturer, Hydro. This Norwegian firm was left practically incapacitated by a cyber-attack in March, which managed to cripple its production and disable the company website.

The number of Internet news items mentioning the words data security is rising rapidly.

 

One of the most famous recent cyber-attacks was the WannaCry ransomware attack, a malicious program that infected more than 300,000 machines across 150 countries in May of 2017. The virus displayed a screen stating that all files on the computer had been encrypted and would be deleted unless a ransom was paid.

Efforts to safeguard against such attacks at the institutional level include companies and governments ramping up investment to protect their systems. In fact, in the United States alone such spending has increased by nearly 50 billion dollars in the last 8 years:

Among private users, training and education have played a pivotal role, seeking to raise awareness of the threats lurking on the Internet and how to avoid future headaches. BBVA is already providing its employees and their families with cybersecurity training.​