I have a recurring bad dream. In it, I wake up normally in my bed, roll over onto my phone and check my Twitter (now known as X). That’s weird, it takes me to the login screen. I try my sets of passwords that I’ve used over the years, and none of them seem to work. I go to every other account I own and a similar situation presents itself, including all of my email accounts. 

In this anxiety-ridden catastrophe of a dream, I am the victim of a cyber-security attack and my online footprint has just been completely hijacked. 

It might not sound as apocalyptic as I’m making it out to be, but this reality is a very real anxiety that my generation shares. In a world in which we are increasingly reliant on our online footprint, the threat of cyberattacks and internet invasions of privacy are ever-prevalent. Luckily, I haven’t been the victim of such an attack, but I cannot stress the importance that cyber-security has in the future.

On July 13, 2018, 12 Russian military intelligence officers were indicted on cyber crimes based on interfering with the 2016 U.S. election. They were charged with many crimes, but the key here is that these individuals conspired to gain unauthorized access to U.S. officials involved in the election, and unlawfully extracted private documents and other information from their computers. Just last year, a CNN article reported that the late Yevgeny Prigozhin (also known as “Putin’s Chef”) replied to a telegram post in which he was asked if Russia interfered in the 2016 election, to which he responded: “Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere.” 

So, in my nightmare, my social media accounts and email got hacked. While it is cause for a panic attack, that is something I can begrudgingly recover from. But when cyber-attacks can go so far as to threaten our democratic processes and the way we govern, I can’t help but feel the need to call for action regarding the advancement of cyber-security. Entire nations are at risk of being completely shattered by cyberattacks, with a simple keystroke being their demise. 

Going forward, we need to promote cyber-security as a field of education, and at least attempt to make it a front-runner in the STEM fields. I also believe that governments and even corporations should be willing to be more forthcoming when it comes to their cyberattacks, sharing the nature of how they were infiltrated so the public can better protect themselves from such a threat. 

If possible, there could even be legislation passed strengthening data breach notifications so that corporations would be mandated to report to the consumer if their information was released publicly. 

With that said, I don’t want to put the blame entirely on the government and corporations for data leaks and unprecedented cyberattacks. It’s also each individual’s responsibility to keep good online “hygiene” to protect themselves as much as possible from cyber-crime. Even simple things like enabling two-factor authentication and strong passwords can make a world of difference when it comes to protecting yourself online. 

I’d also advise younger people to help those who are less technologically savvy set these safeguards, as they are easily the most at-risk group when it comes to cyber-crime. While completely eliminating cyber-crime is impossible, I’d love to live in a world where people can use the internet freely and safely, and, maybe one day, I can stop having that bad dream.