The encryption used to be something that only cybersecurity professionals, privacy nuts, and the odd investigative journalist cared about.
However, things changed after Snowden disclosed the unethical practices of the NSA. This led people to reconsider their digital safety and pay more attention to the surveillance being done on them by their own government.
Why encryption is necessary?
As awareness spread, people started realizing the importance of encryption. Though the surveillance problem is still huge and absolutely unethical, encryption presents a way for Aussies to end the scrutiny of their data, once and for all.
Major governments from around the world are following the footsteps of the US (Broadband Privacy Rules) and Australia (Data Retention law), and are passing laws that authorize ISPs to monitor the online communications of their users. Internet Service Providers are required to store the metadata of Australians for a minimum of 2 years.
This metadata is then accessed by Australian authorities to check if a user is involved in any sort of illegal activity. It can also be accessed by ISP companies so they can sell your data to marketing agencies or any organization willing to spend huge sums of Australian dollars to acquire user data.
If in case the servers storing your data (if not your computers themselves) are hacked by cybercriminals, this puts you in all the more dangerous. Internet Service Providers obviously do not employ the best security technologies to remain 100% safe from hackers. Hackers will always try to disrupt any security in place and try to access the stored metadata, which is literally worth trillions of dollars.
What is encryption?
Thankfully, there are technologies available that can easily end the joint threat of surveillance and hacking. These technologies make use of encryption to protect our data.
Encryption is basically a complex algorithm or code which is absolutely unbreakable. Even powerful surveillance agencies and the most experienced hackers cannot break encryption codes if they are put in use by Australian internet users.
How to encrypt everything?
Modern iPhones and Android devices already allow you to encrypt any data stored on them. This means that without proper codes or keys, not even the most dangerous hackers or surveillance agencies can access your data.
There are other technologies too, like encryption software, that you can use to encrypt any data stored on your computer. Modern hard drives also come with options to encrypt the data stored on them.
How to encrypt your online communications?
However, when it comes to data that is traveling to and from your devices, the matter becomes more complex. We already know that ISPs are being forced, if they weren’t willing to already, to monitor and store our data.
Similarly, hackers themselves have multiple other outlets available through which they can access, monitor or hack your data. These include the hacking of your data via a public Wi-Fi hotspot, or tricking you into installing a malware program on your device so your data can be accessed.
Devices do not come with default security in place which can protect your data from these hacking tactics. In such cases, you need to take matters in your own hands and protect your data.
There are some applications available such as WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., which employ end-to-end encryption to make sure that hackers and surveillance agencies cannot monitor your chats.
However, other data traveling to and from your device is still vulnerable to hacking. In such scenarios, you need to take more immediate measures to ensure that your online communications remain safe and secure.
Importance of a VPN!
The easiest and most reliable way to encrypt your online data is by subscribing to an Australian VPN service. It is necessary for internet users in Australia to employ adequate measures to protect their online privacy and security.
After all, a Virtual Private Network presents a healthy and safe way for them to avoid all the complexities of seeing their data get stolen.
A VPN is short for Virtual Private Network, and it basically hides your internet activities from your ISP and hackers planning to access your data illegally. A VPN creates a blinding effect for hackers and surveillance agencies and leaves absolutely no trails behind for them to search and collect. In other words, a VPN creates a safe passage through which all your data passes, and no one can access or collect that data.
VPNs employ multiple security features to protect users’ from unnecessary burdens like the ones mentioned above. By using a VPN, Aussies can connect with an IP address from a different country or region, thus allowing them to browse the internet from outside the domain of the metadata retention law.
VPNs are also necessary and helpful if you have the habit of connecting to public Wi-Fi networks. Hackers like to monitor public Wi-Fi hotspots in the hope of stealing valuable data.
What most Aussies do not know is that ordinary security measures, like requiring the password to access the network are completely useless. Because a hacker gets access to that network, he can easily monitor whatever he wants from the entire network.
Encrypting your online communications via a VPN for Australia makes your communications completely unreadable. This makes it impossible for hackers to monitor or access your data, even if they own that public Wi-Fi hotspot and are managing it directly.
And finally…
While encryption sounds like a complicated means of protecting your private data, it is still the best form of security that you can put in place for your computer and your internet communications.
Consider how foolish it would be to send a letter without an envelope. Encryption works as an envelope for your data, and it saves you from any harassment or annoyance you may face if someone steals your data. So let’s encrypt everything and keep our data safe from hackers and surveillance agencies.
Sheheryar Khan
June 20, 2023
10 months ago
