The growth of information technologies and their influence has merged our physical world with the ever-expanding digital universe. Smart devices first seen as tools of monetary convenience have become inseparable parts of our day due to easy access to valuable data, communication with friends and relatives, and addictive entertainment.
However, the insatiable desire for further comfort and satisfaction has made us blind and oblivious to the destruction of our privacy. Constant interactions with smart devices and living in their presence makes us emit data that is picked up and collected quickly. If sensors and microphones collect data, imagine how much social media platforms violate your privacy.
Sadly, we have reached a point of no return. Information technologies bring many benefits to revert the doomed state of internet privacy. However, security enthusiasts and advocates for humane technology keep searching for and developing new tools and ways to minimize data collection and ensure cybersecurity.
Still, with increasing concern and attention for internet privacy, we encounter companies that fearmonger potential customers into buying products and software that promise to ensure your security online. In this article, we will talk about reliable privacy tools, as well as security solutions that do not help and can even decrease your privacy. We will also talk about proxies – intermediary servers that do not only hide your network identity but also provide ways to access web pages that are not available in your location. For example, sending data packets through a german proxy will not expose your IP address, and you will be able to access geo-blocked websites. Cheap german proxies are easy to find – with a help of a legitimate proxy provider, you will get the best deal in no time. But enough about proxies – we will get back to them later. Let’s go over some popular security solutions to discuss their effectiveness and basic functionality.
Cheap home security cameras
Okay, while security cameras focus on protecting your real estate and physical possessions, they can also impact your cybersecurity. Monitoring your home from a remote location is a great way to detect intruders, but cheaper cameras and IoT devices often leave security gaps to reduce production costs.
Without proper encryption, the transmission of data between the camera and your device can be intercepted by malicious third parties. While it may not give access to actual video footage, experienced cybercriminals can track the changes in data packets to track patterns and certain changes at any time of day. By analyzing this information, a potential burglar may predict when your house is empty and ready to be robbed.
Cheap cameras are a great example of how unreliable security solutions can do more harm than good. Trustworthy products from legitimate manufacturers that care about maximizing your safety will take into account security gaps before selling a product to you. Just by infusing information transmission with random packets of data, they can skew the results visible to third parties, ruining their predictions.
A careful approach to smart environments
While smart homes created with IoT devices can be wonderful and convenient, just like with cameras, slow and careful implementation of appliances will help you avoid security breaches. Until you can ensure the safety of every device, avoid expanding your system. One mistake can expose your home network to hackers. We recommend taking it slow and familiarizing yourself with potential security gaps and their fixes when modernizing your living environment with hardware.
Keep it simple with proxy servers
Proxy servers are great security tools that work on many levels. A beginner user can find a reliable provider and continue casual browsing without confusing customization. Just by sending data requests through middlemen servers, you protect your IP from both recipients and third parties that dare to take a peek.
Every connection to a web server exposes your address which carries a lot of information. Just by having your IP, others can know your approximate location, store and recognize your browsing patterns, and discover gaps for hacker attacks.
Some web owners use this information to filter out foreign connections and only grant access to local visitors. A proxy server can bypass these limitations by transmitting data through a local IP. For example, if you need access to localized websites in Germany, you can use a German proxy to avoid geoblocking and protect your network identity at the same time. Just make sure you use legitimate proxy servers from reliable providers: free proxies are often set up by cybercriminals that prey on gullible users and end up stealing their data, which makes them one of the biggest security threats!
Today, the internet is full of tools and applications that promise to improve security and anonymity. Ironically, simplicity is the best feature of reliable digital security solutions. If you care about improving your privacy online, keep it simple! With little technical proficiency, security tools do not have to be complicated.
