Kaspersky released its latest ‘Social credits and security†report, and also announced the launch of a new Cyber Capacity Building Program to help firms develop cyber-resilience
Humans have always been social by nature, and tend to look for social cues to guide most of our actions and interactions with one another. Since the world went digital, social media and digital interactions are how an increasing number of people are engaging with their world.
This generates a humongous volume of data and digital platforms often develop a deep understanding of individual behaviors as well as aggregated behavioral patterns from this data. A recent blog postOpens a new window by Prof. Chengyi Lin, an Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and an expert on digital transformation, said, “Digital platforms host data ranging from individual preferences (e.g. Facebook and Pinterest accounts.) to consumer behaviors (e.g. Amazon, Netflix, and Google activity), and from individual expressions (e.g. Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.) to offering our thoughts to a wider online audience, such as aggregated peer reviews and recommendations (e.g. LinkedIn, Uber and Reddit).â€
Social scoring systems – automated algorithms based on users’ behavior and influence on the internet have emerged as an automated, algorithm-powered way for various platforms to evaluate the ‘social credit’ of consumers and audiences. It started with financial institutions such as banks but has today spread from everything such as homestay services to government services.
Emerging digital technologies like IoT, AI and automated algorithms have further aided the social scoring system by connecting and integrating the physical and digital world through data. With COVID-19 and the consequent social distancing making online services and automated systems the global norm, Kaspersky’s report is useful to assess people’s readiness to part with personal data in return for better access to services and discounts based on such systems.
According to Kaspersky’s survey releaseOpens a new window , almost half of the respondents have heard about a social credits system but aren’t clear on how they work. The survey ‘Social credits and security: embracing the world of ratings’, conducted by Kaspersky in 21 countries, reported that 45% of respondents said they experienced problems while trying to understand the workings behind a social credit system, given its inherent challenges with transparency and consistency in scoring behaviour and actions.
But the real eye opener is that 40% of consumers said they were willing to share sensitive private data to get better discounts or rates or special services.
Which brings us to the question: how secure is consumers’ data online when people are so willing to part with their personal information in return for better discounts and services? The survey finds that 51% of respondents are happy with the government monitoring social media activity as long as it’s done to keep its citizens safe.,
In other news from Kaspersky earlier this week, they also launchedOpens a new window a Cyber Capacity Building Program and announced the virtual availability of their Transparency Center services to help firms develop better cyber-resilience. Designed to create practical tools and knowledge for enhanced security assessments by government organizations, companies and academia, Kaspersky’s Cyber Capacity Building Program is also available in an offline and online format.
“Since opening our Transparency Centers, we have developed a wide practice of product security evaluation, and we see that just communicating a company’s readiness to provide its source code for a review is not enough. It requires a certain level of specific IT security knowledge from our partners to carry out an assessment and to have a full experience of what is being offered within the transparency policy. Our Cyber Capacity Building Program will allow organizations, both businesses and government, as well as academic institutions, to develop skills for proper security assessments of the products they use and thus help enhance cyber-resilience of their own networks,†commented Oleg Abdurashitov, Head of Public Affairs at Kaspersky.
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