information protection

Today’s Big Thing, “Big Data”: What You Need to Know

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We invite you to read Hogan Injury’s post, our special guests:

It is projected that by 2020, 1.7 megabytes of data will be generated for every person in the world, every single second; and the proportion of data that needs to be protected is growing faster than the digital universe itself. All the data coming in large volumes from different places is called Big Data.

Big data basically means sets of structured or unstructured data whose volumes are so large and so complex that traditional data processing software cannot process them within a reasonable amount of time. The information mined from these sets are then analyzed and put to good use. Big data involves more than just the volume and complexity of data, however. Doug Laney laid out the definition of big data in 3 V’s.

Volume: Data is collected from everyone, everywhere. From social media activity to online shopping, data can be farmed from everywhere.

Velocity: The speed at which data streams in near-real time thanks to RFID tags, sensors, and smart metering.

Variety: Big data comes in different formats—emails, texts, videos, forms, business transactions, etc.

Some real world uses for big data include:

  • Retail organizations and commercial companies monitor social media activities to find out emerging trends in the market. This way, they can ride the trend and start selling things people are clamoring for at that point in time.
  • Financial organizations analyze data from their clients to organize them into different groups. This categorizing results in more optimized programs that can better serve the needs of their clients. Data analyzed from their clients’ activities could also help detect fraud.
  • Hospitals analyze patient data to foresee which patients would most likely be readmitted and plan treatment programs that will prevent the patients from needing to be readmitted.
  • Industrial companies use machines that gather data that allows them to figure out when a certain machine would need upkeep or replacement.

Data extracted from big data can be very helpful in a lot of ways for many people and organizations. However, as a now famous fictional uncle once told his nephew, “with great power comes great responsibility.” There are two major considerations when trying to build a business around big data. One is data ownership — who has the rights to an individual person’s data and what rights do the government, financial, commercial or health institutions have to them.

The other is data protection. Once an institution or business has access to their clients’ data, how do they protect the private information that go through their systems on a daily basis?

With the scandal of data leaked or sold by such a large social media company as Facebook, more and more people are becoming aware of the dangers of leaving their personal data unprotected. Realizing that something as innocuous as answering online quizzes could actually be used for data mining is somewhat worrying.

Having a good grasp of the legal implications of going into big data is very important. Big data is still an emerging and growing market. If you have any concerns about the legality of anyone, be it an individual or an institution, using and keeping personal data, it is best to get in touch with a lawyer that understand the legalities surrounding data rights, privacy, and protection.

Contact us at Hogan Injury for expert legal advice.

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What you need to know to choose a good antivirus

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One of the first steps you must take to protect yourself from a cyber attack is to have an antivirus, the web is full of threats, so we should be prepared for any eventuality of this type. The question is: how to choose a good antivirus between many options that exist in the market? And which one best suits your needs?

The risks of not being protected are very high, the fact of not having a good antivirus, could bring serious consequences just by accessing the most common sites: an infected email or websites with malicious codes, could bring any virus type or malware such as: Trojans, a computer worm or the feared ransomware, which would allow the cybercriminal to take control of your computer and your personal information.

Each user has different needs, so it is important to define which antivirus is the one that suits you best. Follow some basic tips to protect your computer and your most important information.

How to choose a good antivirus for my devices?

Before choosing an antivirus, you must define the use that you give to your computer, so you will know the protection level you need, it is not the same an antivirus for a company to a personal one, also, if you only check the mail or social media, or if on the contrary, you use your computer for downloading videos and entering many unreliable websites. There are risk in both cases, but precaution levels can be adapted.  

Take into account the computer speed, if it is a new and fast computer you won’t have problem using a powerful antivirus, but if it is an old and slow computer, you will need a lighter program, so that it does not affect your PC efficiency.

After you determine these characteristics, you can start to choose features, which can be adapted to the computer and your budget. Also, choose an antivirus compatible with the operating system you are using.

The basics

  1. You can find on internet paid versions or the free ones, generally, the paid versions will give you many more options, analyze if it is worth making the investment. It is best to choose one with a trial version, with you can test antivirus before paying the license.
  2. It is essential that the antivirus you choose has a firewall, this will allow you to protect your device from any unauthorized access to your local network by some cybercriminal.
  3. Consider the product reputation: buy products with have good references in the market, recognized manufacturers will give you credibility and confidence, in some cases you can see awards and recognitions given by associations and specialized media, as well as the opinions of others users through forums or specialized websites.
  4. Make sure buy it at the official store
  5. Even if you have a fast computer, it is advisable to look for an antivirus that consumes few resources. A good antivirus should protect your computer without delaying processes.
  6. Choose an easy-to-use software, an antivirus must perform its work automatically, in real time and almost without you noticing.
  7. A point to value is that the antivirus has customer service, which can provide technical support in case of any problem.

Plus+ to value

  1. Some antivirus programs also offer a multiple devices license, this allows you to protect not only your computer but other devices such as your mobile phone or tablet.
  2. If you have children, you could use an antivirus with parental control, with this you can limit the children access to the internet.
  3. To reinforce your computer security, some antivirus programs bring other advanced features, for example: Protection against ransomware, artificial intelligence that updates defenses while computer attacks evolving, antispam, phishing protection, protection against banking trojans, among others. Depending on your budget, you can add it to improve your security.

HushApp: Another type of information protection

Do not think that just by choosing an antivirus you will be completely safe, the technology advances and with it the cyber attacks, si If you have more security, it will be better for your computer. The good news is there are other solutions to continue protecting your privacy, many of them are free, and will not modify the budget that you have prepared for cybersecurity.

For example HushApp, which in its FREE version allows you to store and share your most important files easily and securely, through end-to-end encryption systems and other features that will help protect your privacy.

We invite you to try HushApp…