MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Popularizing knowledge of sometimes easy data security tricks could significantly improve privacy security while surfing the Internet or managing files, despite the technical level of security software, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) global policy analyst Eva Galperin told RIA Novosti at the Sakharov Center in Moscow on Wednesday.
"We [EFF] take advantage to nag companies at every opportunity to provide secured and encrypted communications to our users," she told the agency, answering the question on how to improve awareness of security-related dangers among the ordinary Internet surfers.
According to the expert, practically anything can be used against the Internet users by the malefactors, from cell phone data, location data and browser history to e-mails, passwords and files. However, special software is not always the key to securing the data, the analyst stated.
"Security does not come from software, it comes from understanding the security problem thoroughly and successfully executing a plan to mitigate your specific risks," Galperin said.
"Understanding how those tools work together and when to deploy those tools and under what circumstances is what gets you security," she added.
Galperin encouraged the use of special easy-to-install programs for data encryption, secured communication, choosing difficult-to-hack passwords for the services used as well as protecting anonymity online by alternative web browsers and using multi-step authorization systems for logging in.
Galperin also explained that practically all of the social networks of the world are based in the US, thus implying that US laws on online privacy affect people from all over the world.
"What happens in the United States affects a whole number of people. Many of the communications systems that people use around the world are made by American companies and governed by American laws," Galperin said.
Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights group, based in San Francisco. Founded in 1990, it specializes on defending user privacy, the freedom of expression, technology development and other IT and human rights-related spheres.
