There are more and more news of security failures where our personal information is exposed to third parties. Computer security knows no boundaries, and even huge companies or bodies may suffer these problems. This was the case in a recent European Union meeting.
This was during the videoconference about EU defence, with leaders of different countries. All was normal until the Dutch minister published an innocent picture of the meeting she was taking part of. What was the problem? In the image you could see the Access codes for the event. These were in an almost unnoticeable document, yet still present in the shared image.
Moments after, taking advantage of the neglect, a Dutch reporter joined the meeting, and even though Josep Borrel immediately noticed his presence, and invited him to leave the meeting, the subjects of conversation were exposed, including confidential and delicate matters related to the defence.
This event, while it did not lead to greater harm, is a great example of how easy it is to for our information to be left unprotected, and the risks this can generate. Therefore, we need to ask what can we do to avoid these kind of situations that occur even at the EU institutions.
It is important to use computer software that protects our information, and maintains our passwords hidden, or uses a two step verification system. Please check periodically the strength of your passwords, avoid repeating the same ones for different platforms and modify when convenient. Furthermore, consider the information you share online. A simple mistake may cause a major disaster for your privacy.
