The internet we want to live on

Don’t we all get a bit nervous when we think of cybersecurity? The first things that come to mind are identity theft, hackers attacks, and maybe even cyberwar to end the world as we know it. But how many of these fears are justified? Are we overreacting? How dangerous is the cyberspace exactly? How does it interact with the real world?

In this episode of Technoculture Podcats, Federican Bressan interviews Patrick Wheeler, an expert in cybersecurity and technology, with over twenty years of experience in the field, and they talk about people, crime, and the cyberspace.

He is also co-founder of the training program Cyberwayfinder now based in Brussels and Luxembourg. 

Highlights from the episode

2:02 Patrick talks about spyware and malicious software that people close to you may install on your phone to collect data about you (for court cases, etc.)

4:24 As we go to a more digital home, the ability to secure our devices (Alexa, etc.) and to lock out people who previously had access to these devices (e.g. spouses) is increasingly difficult and people don’t necessarily know how to do that.

4:46 Patrick mentions Tall Poppy, an organization that “helps your employees stay ahead of the online threats that harm their personal lives through security awareness training and compassionate care in case of incidents.”

6:15 We need to ask ourselves how are we building the kind of cyberfuture we want to inhabit.

6:27 It’s a good thing that Europe is having a public discussion around privacy, with the GDPR and similar initiatives.

8:01 Crime is now being disintermediated with space, which means that physical proximity is no longer necessary to hurt another person. Ill intended people in the cyberspace benefit from a sense of pseudoanonimity.

15:28 What we need to understand to be good cybercitizens is a fair body of knowledge and a fair amount of practice, and it takes an investment of time.

20:48 Patrick explains the reason why you shouldn’t use the same combination of mail and password on many websites.

25:09 Patrick talks about two-factor authentication, and how you should not only think of your sensitive data, but also that of the people that trust you with their sensitive data.

34:31 The lifecycle of our accounts and what to do with our children’s online presence.

35:07 Posting baby pictures and what these pictures can mean to you in your adult life.

For more highlights, check the description box of the YouTube video.

Cybersecurity

During this interview, Patrick explains how cybersecurity is not only a concern of banks and hackers, but of every citizen.

However, we should not give in to easy panic, and on the contrary educate ourselves on the real risks, and safety measures we can all put in place – our due diligence.

Cybersecurity is about data protection on social media and cyberwars, but especially about social awareness. 

External Resources

The episode was originally published on this page.

Go back to Technoculture Podcast Introductory article

Featured image credit: Federica Bressan

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Federica Bressan

Federica Bressan is a Fulbright scholar and a Marie Curie alumna. Her background is in Cultural Heritage and Computer Science. The vision underlying her research concerns the co-evolution of technology and culture. Her main expertise is in the field of multimedia preservation, with a special attention for audio and interactivity. She works between New York and Brussels.

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