Big Brother is watching

In an era of hacking and online surveillance, The Weekly asks the experts how we can be tech savvy and cyber safe.

- GENEVIEVE GANNON

In the 25-odd years since we all excitedly bought our first mobile phones, the devices have evolved from chunky bricks that did not much more than a landline, to slim, super-computers that allow us to video chat with friends around the world, navigate unfamiliar suburbs in real-time, and order deliveries straight to our doors. The integration of our interests, desires and needs with our online worlds has been so gradual and seamless that most of us have barely noticed how invasive it has become. None of the convenient apps on our phones and computers came with warning signs, but experts say big tech companies are using them to scoop up a lot more information about us than we realise, and there are worrying signs that our data may be used against us.

Thankfully, those experts also have plenty of advice to help us keep ourselves, and our data, safe.

1. Stay scam safe

Last year ended with a cyber-security wake-up call when Australia was named the most hacked nation on earth. An average of 22 Australian accounts were breached every minute in October, November and December 2022, according to VPN services company Surfshark. The majority of these occurred because of major breaches of the Medicare and Optus databases, in which criminals stole the names, addresses, dates of birth and medical histories of thousands of Australians. But they weren’t the only hacks.

The biggest risk is that personal data will be sold to cyber criminals who will then use it to try to scam us, or to commit ID fraud. But cyber security expert Mark Rowley says there are steps we can all take to prevent our information being used against us. And our first line of defence is knowledge.