Facebook news is taking on new meaning. No, we are not referring to the algorithm on their news feed. Instead, it is the headlines that Facebook is making by being breached potentially putting the data of billions at risk.
In the last couple days, Facebook lost $60B in value. Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg went missing in action when called to Washington. The British government is starting to look into the matters and will be conducting hearings.
This will make headlines for months which will help to drive home how unsafe people's data really is.
As a social media site, this helps STEEM enormously. Both Facebook and YouTube are engaging in a censorship/banning campaign. This is causing great dismay among people about the freedom of speech. Both entities are being accused of engaging in tactics that program people what to think. Instead of passing on the news, they are creating it.
It is now emerging that 880K payment cards were accessed in a hack of Orbitz, the online travel agency. Techcrunch wrote that the breach gave hackers access to credit data and other personal information of users who utilized the service over a two year period starting in 2016.
The hackers also likely accessed other data, like names, physical or mailing addresses, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and the customer’s gender while they were in the systems between October and December 2017. It’s unclear whether the hackers also downloaded this data. In a statement, though, Orbitz told us that it has found no “direct evidence that this personal information was actually taken from the platform.”
https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/hackers-gain-access-to-880k-credit-cards-from-orbitz-customers/
Of course the company said that. They are going to deny as much as they can. The typical story in these instances is that a company owns up to being hacked (because it can't deny it) then claims that nothing important was taken. Here we have the Expedia owned company basically claiming that no personal data was downloaded.
How long before people realize that centralized databases simply are not safe? Last year, one of the biggest hacks took place when Equifax was accessed. There again, we saw the company claim minimal damage. Of course, the government did nothing when it could have fined Equifax billions.
People are just starting to realize how much their data is worth to these companies. They are profiting to the tunes of billions yet are leaving it vulnerable. Sadly, nothing these entities do is going to keep the data safe since the hackers are always a step ahead of the data security companies.
So what is the answer?
We are starting to see the advantages of blockchain. Even members of the U.S. Congress, in their report last week, mentioned the security of blockchain. This is something that I feel is a major selling point. STEEM is one of the most advanced blockchains putting it in great position to leverage the distrust and outrage at Facebook.
Things are starting to align perfectly for blockchain. This year we are seeing a tremendous amount of development on the blockchain that is starting to propel into the realm of providing real world solutions. Once again, we see STEEM at the forefront of this since there are 60K+ daily active users on here.
Nevertheless, all the marketing in the world will not make a bit of different if people are not open to receiving the message. The fact that there is so much publicity around data breaches is starting to awaken people to the fact these major entities are not safe. With so much data being exposed, it is not long before the Western Governments (at a minimum) start to really probe this situation. Not even the mainstream media can hide this one.
It is time people stop supporting these companies that are putting people at risk. While it is not easy to remove oneself from every institution, there are places to begin the process. Obviously, social media now provides alternatives to the centralized, manipulative institutions of Facebook and YouTube. Now that Twitter joined in the fun with a ban on cryptocurrency advertising, we can add them to the list.
Advertisers pay dearly for each user on a network. Removing oneself from these ecosystems will hit them in the pocket.
It is time for STEEM to kick things up a notch. The present news cycle can only help position STEEM as an alternative to the corruption if we portray it that way.
And the reason we offer this solution: decentralization.
It is at the core of what this blockchain is.
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