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The Increasing Role of Cybersecurity in the Future

Such a reality is very reminiscent of the scenario of the sci-fi movie Gattaca.

By Patricia SarkarPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Today, we judge about cybersecurity measures such as VPNs or firewalls as solutions to specifically protect our data traffic and privacy online. This is not to be underestimated – during the last decade or two much of our life has migrated online. Here fall our online financial transactions (online banking, shopping), our one to one communication (text/audio/video) and the constantly updated virtual images of ourselves in the social media circle, as well as many other aspects that present interest for marketers, governments, criminals, etc. People have resorted to VPN providers such as TorGuard to secure their online activities. They might be different in many aspects but virtually all of these offer one key security feature - encryption of all web traffic and hiding of the IP address.

The Unstoppable Intrusion of Digital Technologies

There was a monumental leap from the first digital articles published online to the pervasive social networks of today, which shape to a great extent the psychology and worldview of current generations. And this site provides a good example of the intrusion of digital technologies in our lives by showing how the concept of digital media has evolved since its appearance, engulfing more and more space, platforms, and technologies and increasing the impact on our lives. It would be naïve to think that the evolution of this or other similar technologies stop here. On the contrary, given the globalization and interconnectedness of today characterized by ultra-fast adoption of emergent technologie,, some modern authors like Yuval Noah Harari have stated that we have reached the moment of singularity, meaning we are no more able to predict even our short-term future. Namely, where the next technological or social leap of the civilization will come from and where it will take us.

Genomic Data

Nevertheless, there are some certainties in this ocean of unpredictability. Thus, we witness the fulminant evolution of genomic technologies such as Next Generation Sequencing that already today allow to sequence a human genome either partially (the regions of interest) or entirely for a relatively modest price. Obviously, the focus nowadays is on the priceless medical information and benefits that these technologies can bring to each individual. But even from the current standpoint it is easy to predict that the information generated by these technologies would be stored in unified databases (to facilitate inspection by health professionals and researchers). Additionally, each patient would certainly be provided with the partial or entire sequence of his / her genome.

It is needless to say that this is very sensitive data – even nowadays, much information can be drawn from reading the genome, such as the predispositions to:

  • developing a specific disease,
  • committing a criminal offence,
  • having a high/low IQ or being (less) creative.

In a world where employers have turned down job applications after locating and studying the social media profiles of the candidates or where health insurance companies deny services to people who have confirmed financially burdensome diseases, it is easy to imagine that leakage of such genomic data could easily turn into a disaster for the victim. Moreover, the concept of leaving your old life and starting anew might become irrelevant given that genomic data is the ultimate identification tool – not a single person has the same genome. Such a reality is very reminiscent of the scenario of the sci-fi movie Gattaca.

Keeping Pace

Taking all these into account, it is evident that the concern with cybersecurity would be orders of magnitude higher in the future than it is now and things like firewalls, antivirus software, and VPNs will be of utmost importance. Of course, we are not talking about the current versions – this is a tough arms race and both the threats and the antidotes would be evolving. For now, resources like Bestvpnrating.com can help you get an essential overview of TorGuard and other VPN solutions out there, understanding the basics of the technology, the relevant features to focus on based on your individual needs, and to compare the solutions available on the market.

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About the Creator

Patricia Sarkar

Raised on a steady diet of makeup and games. Eager to share my experiences with the world and make a difference, article by article! :)

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