How secure is your data?

The recent revelations of the extent of Government surveillance of the internet have generated much commentary on the implications for individual privacy, as well as coverage of the attempts of those involved with the whistle-blowing to stay out of the hands of the law.  Surprisingly little has been written about the implications for the commercial world.

Firstly, you have to assume that your email and social media traffic is being capable of being read by at least the UK & USA governments.  For the vast majority of traffic, there's nothing that could possibly be of interest.  However, if you have business dealings with the Government, or if you're involved in any activities that may be seen to be on the edges of legality, then you should be worried.  This certainly applies if you're involved in 'tax mitigation' activity.

Secondly, the knowledge about how to crack internet security must be extremely widespread.  Edward Snowden was a lowly employee of a sub-contractor, but easily got to understand the entire scope of the NSA operation.  If someone in a similar position to Snowden decided to just take what he could and sell it to a foreign government, or criminal gang, would we ever know?  The technical knowledge of how to tap into communications must be in the hands of many thousands of people, with worrying implications for the security of corporate networks.

Thirdly, there is worrying evidence of intimidation of journalists going on.  Glenn Greenwald at 'The Guardian' and his colleagues are bravely standing up to this  If other journalists have given in to intimidation, then we probably wouldn't hear about it.  So we have to be sceptical whether we are getting all of the news and information we need in this area.

Fourthly, if you're concerned about data security, you should be very cautious about using products from large American or British suppliers.  Companies with data stored on American servers may well already be in breach of European data protection law.

And fifthly, a whistle blowing policy is essential for any organisation wishing to keep its reputation intact.

There are, I'm sure, many other implications of this affair which should be leading us all to rethink our use of technology.