The workshop on Digital Hygiene is a project that has been conceptualized by the Gehendra Dhimal Foundation and Location Nepal. When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web or ‘www’, which is used in common parlance these days, in 1989 nobody had thought that it would totally change the way we do things – from communication to e-commerce. Over the years the internet has seeped into our daily lives and with the availability of affordable mobile devices everyone practically has access to the internet on their fingertips.
What used to seem impossible a couple of decades back has now become a very common occurrence. Gone are the days when we had to wait for weeks and at times months to receive a letter as every individual has access to various email sites. Also, we no longer think twice to place a call to our friends, family or colleagues as there are a multitude of Over the Top (OTT) applications to choose from and what’s even better is we can actually place video calls.
Also, the trend of carrying bulky SLR cameras while on any official assignment or for that matter a vacation is also history now with the availability of a plethora of mobile devices that have in-built cameras to suit every individual’s requirements and pockets. And who ever talks about photo albums these days?
Facebook, TikTok, Instagram… there are so many choices available where one can post their life events. But like how they say that every coin has two sides to it the development of information technology also has a dark side to it.
The major problem that individuals face these days is related to cyber security or the lack of it. There have been millions of instances reported of people’s email accounts or social media accounts being hacked and misused. Let’s not forget the spams we receive every time we open our email accounts. And moreover, if a person is a celebrity, then they need to be extra careful because more often than not it is the celebrities who are targeted by so-called cyber-criminals.
The Digital Hygiene project aims to impart knowledge and necessary tools that are required to keep oneself safe in the digital space. Digital Hygiene, which is also called cyber security, is fundamentally a collection of practices that individuals utilize on a regular basis so that their devices or networks or data are safe and secure. What we as individuals should always aim to do is to keep all our sensitive data in the most secure manner. We must make sure that such data is thoroughly protected from theft or attacks.
Digital Hygiene does not only mean being safe from our data being stolen. It also includes using the best practices so that we are not infected with malware or ransomware, among others. The growing problem in the cyber space these days is the proliferation of ransomware attacks whereby the cyber-criminals block your access to your data, and you need to pay a ransom to regain access to it.
