Are You Leaking Data?

Immediately, you scoff. “I’m on a Mac!”

And you’re still leaking data! How can this be? Simple.

The basics of internet communications use Internet Protocol, or IP Addresses, to communicate. The global entity called the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages IP addresses. IP address ranges are location-based. For instance, the US has a different IP address range than Mexico and Canada. IP address ranges for the US are broken down by Internet Service Provider, or ISP. The ISP is required BY LAW to attach a physical address or at least a town to the IP addresses in use. Which means, simply by reading this blog, you’ve just told me where you live.

OK, it’s not accurate, but it can give me your city and state. Try it yourself on our webpage – www.goscnow.com/areyousecure/ – The IP address shown is your actual Internet router. As a hacker, I could target that IP address to see if your home Internet router is secure. When is the last time you updated the firmware on your home or business Internet router? Did you know that nearly all Internet routers have a defect or software bug that could allow unauthenticated access to your network?

Your Internet browser is also vulnerable. I can see, for instance, that you’re still running Internet Explorer, which you definitely shouldn’t be. I might gain remote access to your computer just by directing you to malicious code your browser will run. Even with up-to-date security software and monitoring, it looks like you initiated the connection and the system will NOT block it.

“I use a VPN!” That’s fine, but that just means someone else can look at your data. VPNs, proxies, and Security Service Edge (SSE) software like Zscaler will only protect you from hackers tracking you back to your public IP address. The real problem? You are still vulnerable to drive-by-download attacks on the Internet or through email.

Then there are privacy concerns. Have you ever tried to Google your name and city of residence? Try it, but don’t panic at what you see. All that data is why Mark Zuckerburg says privacy is dead. What you see is the culmination of years of companies selling your data to data brokers. Therefore, you get tons of spam and junk mail in real life. Learn how to clean this up in this article.

Finally, check haveibeenpwned.com. This handy website lets you search your email address or corporate domain to see if they showed up in any recent data breaches. While you can’t do too much about it, it’s a great indicator you need to change your passwords. Even if you don’t show up on the list, and nearly everyone does, you should still have a different password for every website and change passwords regularly. Learn about password managers here.