¿Con qué frecuencia usas el cifrado? Parece cosa de películas de espías, pero te sorprenderá descubrir su casi omnipresencia en tu vida cotidiana.
Encryption is the process of scrambling or enciphering data, and only someone with the key can read or access it. You can use it for things like shopping online, using mobile banking, or using secure messaging apps. So while you may not be smuggling encrypted government secrets across borders, you do rely on it, along with your passwords and settings, to keep your data secure and private.
Descubre todas las formas de uso cotidiano del cifrado.
07:21
Tu alarma vibra. Coges tu teléfono, dispuesto a posponer la alarma antes de que te arrepientas. Tienes una presentación importante en el trabajo y hoy no te va a sobrar ni un minuto. Tienes un mensaje de tu amigo australiano deseándote suerte. ¡Qué detallista! Y por si no bastase con el detalle, tu amigo utilizó una aplicación de mensajería con cifrado de extremo a extremo. Está claro que se ha ahorrado el precio de la llamada internacional, pero la seguridad adicional también está bien.
08:13
You’re ready to go, but before heading out, you check a news website for the traffic report. There’s a lock icon on the search bar, telling you the site uses HTTPS security, which means it’s harder for anyone to see which articles you’re reading. There’s been a minor accident on your usual route so you decide to take the train.
09:46
El tren está abarrotado, pero te las arreglas para sentarte. Le das un sorbo al café que acabas de comprar en el kiosko del andén. Al pagar con tu tarjeta de crédito has usado tres puntos de cifrado: en el chip de la tarjeta de crédito, en el datáfono y mientras los datos de la tarjeta se enviaban para autorizar tu compra. Pero no piensas en ello. En lugar de ello, sacas tus auriculares bluetooth y suspiras aliviado de que nadie más puede escuchar lo que reproducen. Esto tiene una explicación: ¡eres lo suficientemente bueno, eres lo suficientemente inteligente y, cómo no, utilizas el cifrado!
11:24
Before you can even settle into your desk at work, you log in to your email account to check on one last thing you need for today’s important presentation. There’s no news, so you hop onto a videoconference call with a colleagues across the country to try to get an update. The call is secured by end-to-end encryption, so it is a lot harder for anyone to listen to your conversation as the data travels from your computer to your colleagues’.
15:14
You did it! The presentation went well and now you’re ready for a break. You’re about halfway through that double bacon chili cheeseburger when the pain starts. You use all of your drugstore rewards points to buy heartburn medicine, and make a mental note to eat better. Lucky for you, the store encrypts this information. Hackers can’t easily access your purchase history, so your dietary choices can be your secret.
16:39
At the end of your work day you glance down at your fitness tracker and see that you’ve walked 8,000 steps. Good job! It almost makes that lunch worth it. Because there’s secure communication between your tracker and its app, you know your health information will stay secure from anyone hacking the free public WiFi you use in the train station. Now you touch your secure pre-paid pass to the gate at the train station to head home. You were annoyed a few months before when the transit authority updated their pass system, but the new system uses cryptography to help ensure that someone cannot pass their card off as your own – and charge your account.
17:44
You stop at the grocery store to pick up dinner. Since you’re out of cash, you use an app on your smart phone to pay. Each time you make a payment this way, the transaction data is secured using encryption. You spent the exact cost of a deep-dish Buffalo-wing pizza, but your future cardiologist doesn’t need to know that. (It comes with celery sticks. You’re already making healthy choices!)
As soon as you’re home, you beckon your personal digital assistant to turn on the lights. You settle into the couch with dinner and turn on your smart TV to watch your favorite Hallmark movie. You have a weak spot for stories about successful women who return home for the holidays only to fall in love with their childhood sweethearts. Because your WiFi is encrypted, your film snob neighbor never has to know.
Ahora que ya sabes todas las formas de cifrado para garantizar la seguridad de tus datos, tu misión es, si así lo decides, ayudar a protegerlo.
Toma estas seis medidas para proteger el cifrado y protegerte a ti mismo.