A match made in digital heaven?
I went off the dating market some eight years ago, back when Iron Man 2 came out and the first iPad was released. There were plenty of dating sites back then, but nothing that compares to today's Tinder or happn. Love in the digital and hyperconnected age is a fascinating topic. Equipped with just a first and last name, you can track down an enormous amount of information about your crush. First comes the initial interaction on social media, followed by an exchange of messages, and only then—potentially—a date. The Internet is part of the hunt: you scrutinize your new flame’s Facebook profile like an employer scrutinizes a résumé. Does your potential date share your love of travel? Browsing through their photo albums titled “Thailand 2012,” “Peru 2014” and “Norway 2017,” it would seem so. See, you already have something in common! We tend to be very generous with the information we share on social media sites like Facebook. So much so that big data analysts might be able to successfully predict a budding romance. But can the number of positive interactions between two people (a “like” here, a photo comment there) really foretell whether they’ll go on a date? Or how soon they'll have their first kiss? Eulerian Inc., a company that specializes in big data analysis, was asked these very questions. It was a hypothetical exercise, but the results are entertaining—and frankly a little disturbing. According to the experts, we can predict whether two people will go on a date by analyzing public data. This involves examining the recurrence of certain interactions. You can probably recall a time when you added that special person, liked their photos or comments for the first time or first commented on their status. These actions leave traces whose correlations, according to the experts, can predict the likelihood of going on a date and how soon that date will happen. In fact, we can do even more. Because of the large amount of information we share online and the many hours we spend on social media, we leave much more than just a public trace. If a platform like Facebook were to make available all the interactions between two people, we could make even farther-reaching romantic predictions. Let's imagine for a moment that we had access to data such as: The amount of time spent looking at each photo The number of positive interactions in private messages The number of profile visits Obviously this data isn't public, but if it were, Eulerian claims we could predict a new romance (in real life) and even estimate when the couple will kiss for the first time. Say you've been in contact with someone for a month. You've liked around 20 of their photos and 30% of their comments, and you've commented on a quarter of their posts. Based on this information, we can conclude that your first kiss will occur within three months of the initial friend request. Again, this data isn't accessible, and the correlations are just part of hypothetical exercise performed by the big data experts at Eulerian. It all sounds a bit Black Mirror, but it's important to keep in mind that such data exists in large volumes and access to this data depends on a company's ethics rules. Just like Amazon tries to predict our next purchase before we even know we need something, perhaps companies will know we're about to fall in love even before the first spark is lit. So, would you sacrifice the magic and mystery of love and offer your data to a company that promises to find your perfect “match 2.0”? Can big data deliver a match made in digital heaven?Cloud accounts, a user’s manual
Personal devices are evolving so fast, it’s enough to make you dizzy. But getting a new product doesn’t necessarily mean having to learn everything all over again. Written by Michel Baril, your Pro. Cloud solutions are a great example. You’ve probably already heard that they can help you make better use of your devices. That’s true, but many people still aren’t clear on how they work and, more concretely, how can they help. Here’s some handy information to help you understand what cloud services are all about. 1. Your cloud is yours only! The first thing you need to know is that when you use a cloud service, the only person who can access your data is you. It’s important to let that sink in. A lot of people are afraid that once their information is sent to the cloud, it will be accessible to everyone on the Internet. But the fact is that no one knows your password but you—not even the cloud service provider’s staff! So don’t forget this important nugget of information: you are the only person who can access your information. 2. What exactly is the cloud? In the IT field, the term “cloud” refers to storage space reserved just for you. Think of it as a bank account for saving your information. To access it, you need a device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and an Internet connection. Most cloud services require an email address (to use as your ID) and a password. To understand how the cloud system works, let’s go back to our banking analogy. When you want to access your bank account, you need a debit card (which is like a user name) and a PIN number (which is like a password). 3. What is the cloud used for? The cloud’s main function is to make a copy of your information so that nothing is lost if your device is misplaced or stolen. Services like AppleiCloudor Google Drive have features that enable automatic backups. In fact, whenever your device is connected to Wi-Fi, its contacts, photos, notes, reminders, appointments, search history and more are all saved in this virtual storage space. That way, even if you lose your device, you can still access most of your personal information via websites like icloud.com or google.com/drive. 4. How does syncing work? To get a better understanding of what we mean by “syncing devices,” let’s imagine that phones, tablets and computers are all ways of accessing the Internet and your accounts, much like an ATM at the bank. No matter where you go, you still have access to the same amount of money. The same is true with the cloud! Syncing your devices allows you to access the same contacts, photos and other data on all your devices. This means that if you make a change on one device, it will be automatically applied to all the others and saved in the cloud. Did you buy a new phone? Simply connect your new device to your cloud account and all your information will be available to you. How do you know if these features are enabled? Open the settings on your various devices and go through the backup options.Beware of Ransomware
By Marc-André Gagnon, information security specialist. How much would you be willing to pay to recover your term paper? Your family photos and videos? Your business documents? Those are the questions you’ll have to answer if you fall victim to ransomware, a type of computer virus that is striking more than ever before. Ransomware uses industry best practices to block access to your data by encrypting it. That means you can’t access your files without decrypting them—and you’ll need a decryption key to do it. The creator of the virus may (or may not) provide you with the decryption key in exchange for a ransom, which is usually paid using virtual money (i.e., Bitcoin). In dollars, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 for a typical ransom. Ransoms charged to businesses are much higher, reaching $10,000 or more. You usually have 24 to 72 hours to pay, and the ransom amount may increase as time passes. It’s easy to see how this kind of extortion is very lucrative for fraudsters. Figure 1 - Ransom message used in the WannaCry attack Don’t let your guard down Like with any virus, there are lots of ways your computer can become infected with ransomware, including: Email containing an infected attachment or link Software downloaded from a non-official site (e.g., BitTorrent) Legitimate websites that are temporarily compromised may prompt you to download malware (e.g., a fake Adobe Flash update) Being on the same network as an infected computer, especially if your device doesn’t have the latest updates Malicious apps downloaded from Google Play Store or Apple App Store Windows and Android platforms are targeted most often, though there are some variants for Apple OSX and iOS. What does this mean for you? Remaining vigilant is essential, as is having an enabled, up-to-date virus checker. There are no more excuses, especially since Microsoft offers Windows Defender for free. What to do if you get infected Before you do anything else, disconnect your USB key, hard drive and network cables, and turn off your WiFi. The idea is to prevent the ransomware from encrypting the data on your synched drives (Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.), peripheral devices and other devices on your network. If you have a corporate workstation, or if you are simply at the office, let the tech support team know right away. Encrypting information takes time, so if you have just been infected, you may be able to limit the damage by shutting down your computer. Do not pay the ransom. There’s no guarantee that you will get your data back. Don’t forget that you’re dealing with a dishonest fraudster, so don’t expect great after-sales service! In fact, some types of ransomware don’t even allow decryption after payment. They’re bluffing! If you can, bring your computer to a repair centre to see if some files can be recovered. Some ransomware is worse than others. At the end of the day, the only 100% viable strategy is to reinstall and restore your backed-up data. You have backed up your files, haven’t you?
