Google devising methods to keep internet safe
Users have to be digitally literate in order to check to thwart cyber attacks, says Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google
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Bengaluru: The tech giant Google is devising various methods to keep internet safe from potential cyber threats. However, users have to be digitally literate in order to check such cyber attacks.
"We have been doing many things in Google to take care of such (cyber) threats under the cloud computing environment. There has been rapid proliferation of connected devices that are powered by internet capabilities. (In this context), open source software developers should be careful," said Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.
Cerf, who is also widely known as one of the fathers of internet, opined the same at BITS Pilani's tech fest 'APOGEE' on Sunday. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards including US National Medal of Technology, Turing Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and many more.
According to Cerf, the concerns related to privacy, personal information, banking frauds, spread of misinformation and other such cyber threats have increased in the current cloud computing environment. While technology companies are taking many measures to thwart such attempts, users have to be digitally literate to protect themselves from such attacks.
He also had a word of caution for software product developers to keep the internet safe. "Bugs are simple, stupid mistakes. We have to figure out our ability to find mistakes in the software. Software creators have the great ethical responsibility to make it bug-free or they should at least know the way to fix the bugs after its distribution," said Cerf.
Massive investment in satellite technology and rolling out of 5G telephony are going to give further boost to the proliferation of internet globally.
According to the veteran technologist, the spread of undersea fibre optic cable are at the forefront of spread of internet in the world. "Massive investment is being done in the satellite technology space. Take the case of Starlink (of Elon Musk). At some point of time, satellite technology will be used to increase the speed of internet," Cerf said.
Promoter of SpaceX, Elon Musk aims to provide high speed internet through its Starlink project. Under this initiative, SpaceX has already launched over 1,000 satellites. Currently, Starlink is providing an internet speed ranging between 50 Mbps and 150 Mbps, having latency between 20 ms to 40 ms. In 2021 itself, however, the speed would be doubled to reach 300 Mbps, according to the company. The company eyes a 12,000 strong satellite network that would provide a speed of 1 Gbps in the future. Apart from satellite technology, even rolling out of 5G telephony is likely to enhance the reach of internet globally. "Even after a spacecraft has finished its mission, it can be used in internet technology," Cirf said.
Giving a word of advice to young entrepreneurs working in the technology space, he said that entrepreneur should stay focussed despite several distractions to be successful.
"Entrepreneur should understand that creating a customer is important for every business," he added. Talking on the risks faced by the society from internet, Cirf said that increasing dependency on internet technology can be cited as one of the key risks faced by the society.
