What we can learn from the Sony hacking scandal [digital privacy resources]

As he speculated on the ethics of society, Aristotle found himself naturally led to the study of politics.
Putting together his observations, he wrote a treatise on political philosophy (cleverly entitled Politics), in which he describes how a tyrant abuses power for personal benefit at the expense of his subjects.
And they can get away with this either with a reign of terror or by disguising their actions as virtuous.
In order to instill terror in the populace, Aristotle elaborates:
‘A tyrant should also endeavor to know what each of his subjects says or does, and should employ spies . . . and . . . eavesdroppers . . . [T]he fear of informers prevents people from speaking their minds, and if they do, they are more easily found out.’
Yes, even 2,400 years later, Aristotle’s treatise seems to be the official playbook for those in power today, because this is precisely what’s taking place.
But it’s not only government spying that poses a threat to your privacy.
As we learned from the ongoing Sony hacking scandal, most of our digital communications are completely unsecure.
And it’s especially striking that a company as large as Sony would take digital security so lightly.

This post was published at Sovereign Man on December 17, 2014.