Cybercrime is the second-largest category of crime in the United States. Every year, the threat from online criminals gets bigger and the strategies employed become more sophisticated. Despite this, many are still unaware of the threats posed to their security and the integrity of their personal data when using the internet for everything from social media to online purchases. As the US enters its first presidential election year since the Cambridge Analytica scandal linked to Donald Trump’s campaign, it’s vital that US citizens have as much understanding as possible about online threats and manipulation.
Cost to victims
The combined losses from cybercrime in 2018 were almost double that of 2017, with the total almost reaching £3bn. This is more than 500pc more money lost than in 2011, showing how rapidly this threat is expanding and how serious any form of cyber threat is. Considering Cambridge Analytica were able to access up to 87 million Facebook profiles to harvest the data for advanced marketing tactics, it’s no wonder that personal data breaches are among the fastest-growing cybercrimes of the past year. But what does this mean for the US going into the next election?
Cyber interference
Regardless of whether interference from Cambridge Analytica was the main force responsible for Donald Trump’s win in 2016, the threat to democracy from cybercriminals will only get worse until our approach to our data and legislation around how it can be used is changed. Though it’s unlikely that Republicans under Trump will do much to change the influence data companies can wield by harvesting data, the Democrats should learn from 2016 and make changes quickly if their candidate is successful. However, whether Republicans or Democrats win at the end of the year, all citizens should take steps to protect themselves online.
Cybersecurity is a subject which hasn’t received much coverage in the Democratic primary debates so far, suggesting that Democrat candidates are still underestimating the challenges to democracy that come from online insecurity. There are still six Democratic candidates in the running to campaign as president, how do their approaches to cybersecurity differ?
The cyber stance of the Democratic nominees
According to Politico’s aggregation of policy positions, three of the remaining six candidates (Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar) believe paper ballots should be mandatory. Paper ballots help protect the integrity of elections as they are not vulnerable to hacks or tampering by cybercriminals. On the other hand, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bloomberg are yet to state their position. Given that Biden appears to be the likely choice of candidate in the national polls, it’s troubling that little consideration is being given to cybersecurity yet.
Donald Trump’s stance
In the Republican party, Trump’s victory is still hounded by claims of manipulation carried out by Cambridge Analytica and Wired argues that under Trump, cybersecurity has waned. With the election campaign coming up, Republicans are giving little thought to election integrity, mostly due to the spotlight on impeachment proceedings.
However, from the behaviour of Trump’s cybersecurity advisor, Rudy Giuliani, it’s safe to assume that the threat of cybercriminals is low on the priority list in general. News broke recently that Giuliani was forced to seek help from the Apple store when he forgot the password to his phone. Under such management, the nation’s approach to cybersecurity is likely to keep eroding should Trump win another term.
Key issues
During the election campaign, there are a number of key issues all US citizens should be aware of when using the internet and how to keep safe.
Fact-checking
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has appeared before the US Congress in relation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal but, despite the evidence suggesting Facebook’s significant effect on the minds of the electorate, Zuckerberg has refused to screen political ads run on the platform for lies. Elizabeth Warren highlighted this when she ran ads on Facebook claiming that Zuckerberg wanted Trump to win a second term. For users of the social media site, fact-checking ads from any candidate is vital. Always be aware of who is funding the ads and research all claims made for supporting evidence before making any decisions.
Data breaches
As the second most popular cybercrime, all US citizens should protect themselves from data insecurity. This includes examining what data is being shared by apps to what companies are receiving payment information when buying online. A recent study found that Tinder, OKCupid and eight other apps were sharing potentially sensitive data with third parties through Twitter’s ad platform MoPub. To avoid the issues of the last election, all users of social media should stay vigilant to who they are interacting with and keep their data safe.
However, it was also recently discovered that government-funded Android smartphones came pre-installed with malware in the settings app, meaning there was no way for the phone to be usable after the removal of the infected app. This shows that, even if citizens were to be as guarded as possible with their personal data, the government needs to do more to guarantee all internet users’ safety.
With the Democratic primary caucuses set to begin in February, whoever is chosen should call attention to the neglect of cybersecurity by the government and set out plans to change things. Until this happens, all internet users should familiarise themselves with at least basic cybersecurity strategies to keep them safe when using the internet.
This article was written by Damon Culbert from Cybersecurity Professionals, the cybersecurity jobs site: visit www.cybersecurity-professionals.com.
