Info-Sec: Who To Follow

There’s a lot of information circulating regarding how to keep your data safe. Here are our suggestions on the best people to follow for best information security practice.
A few years ago, the phrase “info-sec” would have meant very little to the average internet user.,But recently, it’s been impossible to ignore. Info-sec is a growing area of importance not just for industry insiders, but casual internet users as well. This is why.

What is Info-Sec?

Broadly defined, info-sec—which is short for information systems security—“refers to the processes and methodologies involved with keeping information confidential, available, and assuring its integrity.”
From Russian hackers and Wikileaks to Whatsapp backdoors and massive password hacks at Yahoo, there have never been more examples of the pressing need to keep your information safe online. While tech-focused sites have always covered the issue, it’s been heartening to see the growth of coverage from mainstream media.
Even famous whistleblower Edward Snowden recently tweeted a link to an article about secure messaging safety published by Teen Vogue of all places, saying that it was a “good primer on why SMS, Snapchat, and Telegram aren’t the best choices for chatting safely. Learn the risks.” With such professional endorsement it would be foolhardy to ignore info-sec.

Political Unrest = Information Uncertainty

That makes us wonder how we got  to a place where info-sec is such an urgent threat that even teen-focused magazines are instructing their readers on how to protect their Snapchat accounts? There are many reasons, but an increasingly volatile political climate in the US is certainly one of them.
Divisiveness can encourage leakers and other actors to go after powerful troves of information. We’ve seen this with both the DNC hack and the more recent release of the CIA’s “Vault 7” documents by Wikileaks which the Guardian called:
“The biggest ever leak of confidential documents from the CIA detailing the tools it uses to break into phones, communication apps and other electronic devices.”
In other words, the more people hold a grudge or want to prove a point, the more info-sec becomes a risk factor.

Sounding the Alarm

In addition, our previous underestimation of how big of an issue this was has certainly magnified the current state of affairs. As one expert wrote in Ars Technica, the actual rate of infosec issues is alarmingly higher than we realize:
“Read the real-world news [and] major security breaches and consequent customer damage seem to happen every day—but that’s not an accurate perception. With some 65 percent of companies worldwide reporting attacks getting through, the true daily rate is probably in the high hundreds of thousands. Factor in attacks on personal IT, and a breach rate of around one megacrime per day may even be low-balling it.”
However important info-sec is, it can also be a somewhat esoteric and technical world to understand to those who aren’t technically literate. That’s perhaps why it hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves in the past.

If you’re just now waking up to the need to pay attention to the info-sec world, here are some experts to follow:

Edward Snowden: Mentioned above, Snowden is the famous whistleblower who brought to light the surveillance systems that the NSA was using on its own citizens. Now in exile in Russia, Snowden espouses his viewpoint on current infosec matters on Twitter, weighing in on everything from best practice to the authenticity of various leaks. He’s definitely worth a follow.
Glenn Greenwald: A prominent journalist and founder of the Intercept, Greenwald has been largely responsible for underlining the importance of cryptography in journalism and other forms of sensitive communication – like email.
SwiftonSecurity: This Twitter account and accompanying blog goes deep on technology security issues. The blog is known for offering practical advice on the founding credo that “everyone can be secure.”
Debra J. Farber: Known on Twitter as the Privacy Guru, Farber weighs in on everything from the risks associated with the Internet of Things and the need to integrate more females in the field. She is the founder of a privacy consultancy as well as an editorial board member of Cyber Security: A Peer-Reviewed Journal.
VPS.NET: Our informative posts always appear on Twitter too. We hold data security as our top priority, including keeping you up to date with the latest security concerns and safety hacks.

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