Question

PLease answer in deatl about this cyber secuirty question.

Privacy goes hand in hand with security, but many of the activities of information security analysts seem to be an invasion of privacy. Discuss how employers can justify the use of tools such as Encase by Guidance Software.

Answer 1

Privacy and security, while deals with the same branch of Computer Science i.e. Information Security, they are seen as complement to each other in various aspects.

By Privacy, we mean that how one's private data, can't be accessed by any other person or organization, without their permission. Now this private data can be anything like private photos, or emails, or bank statements or anything, which is meant only for that particular person.

Now, by Security, we mean, how immune or guarded, our data, or our connection with the network is. Security assures the user, that the environment is safeguarded from any sort of external attack or unauthorized access of any sort. Now, security is also of different types, like Network Security, Data Security, Hardware Security and so on.

Privacy and Security are complementry of each other, i.e., a perfect balance of both is needed, to get good security with personal privacy. For having a secured environment, there is a need to scan each and every data stored, packet flowing through the network, both in and out. But, at the same time, to get the access of that private data like photos, videos, audio etc. So, to have security, al the data, emails, text messages, all will have to be scanned and checked, which is direct breach of one's privacy.

So, in a nutshell, privacy and security are opposite sides of a seesaw.

Let us now discuss the breach of privacy of employees, by employers, in the name of security. EnCase by Guidance Software is a security oriented software, which aims at complete protection and security.It mainly used in companies, for security purposed. But, in recent times, it has been alleged that it compromises with privacy of the data of users, in order to provide robust security, It is even known as "spy software" or "virtual tracker". Some of the features of this software include recovering deleted data from hard drive, tracking browsing history of users, have access to private emails. All of this directly shows the level of privacy that software like this work at.

So, in a broader aspect, privacy is minimized a lot, for the employees, and is like a 24/7 surveillance, of their activities. But, from an employer's point of view, it helps in securing their systems, their workplace and ensuring that there's no suspicious or illegal activity happening, from within the company. Many times, data like this is needed, in case of any mishap in the company, or any fraudelent cases like bribery or corruption in the organization. It's data like these, that help in the investigation and finding the culprit.

Hence, while privacy is important, in the working environment, security measures and tools like EnCase are also important to some extent, given that the employees are well informed, before hand, about them.