What is the future direction of secure tech in Aotearoa
Otautahi - China is zeroing in on tech as the key to the country’s future and has approved plans to revamp its technology system. What is Aotearoa doing about secure tech and which direction is it heading?
China’s science and technology system was originally borrowed from the Soviet Union without much regard to market demand and national goals.
Could New Zealand set up its own tech network, without relying on the likes of Google and Microsoft? Probably far too expensive but what about cyber security concerns?
But companies, organisaitons and individuals can set up their own virtual private network, better known as a VPN to protect identity and browsing activity from hackers.
When connecting to the internet with a VPN, a person’s data and IP address are hidden by a type of virtual tunnel which keeps others from spying on anyone’s online activity.
Public wi-fi is convenient but comes at the expense of security. When you’re answering emails at a local coffee shop or absent-mindedly scrolling through social media at the airport, someone may be tracking online activity.
Using a VPN protects data while the user is on other networks; it hides browsing history, banking information, account passwords and more from ill-intentioned internet strangers.
While a VPN user is connected to their home wi-fi, you are less likely to be attacked by strangers than on a public connection. However, data is still vulnerable.
An ISP or internet service provider can access all someone’s internet data. The ISP can see when, where and how someone browses.
This data can be collected and sold to advertisers even if they are using the private browsing function, and it can be dangerous in the wrong hands in the case of a data breach. A VPN can help obscure an IP address from its own ISP.
Someone’s ISP isn’t the only potential liability that they have brought into their home. Unfortunately, many favourite apps and internet services have been called out for the way they’ve used the data of their users.
A VPN will prevent apps and websites from attributing someone’s behaviour to a computer’s IP address.
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.