Google and Dropbox to Simplify Security

             Google and Dropbox are teaming up via their new company Simply Secure. The aim of this new organization is to make using secure technologies more accessible and easier to use. I think this is extremely relevant considering recent events. With all the celebrity nude leaks concerning with iCloud, users need to learn how to be secure on the internet. With two household names creating the organization, I think that it will lead to people using the upcoming software. “The two companies will spend the next few months working on projects like Off-the-Record messaging, Open Whisper Systems, and The Guardian project so that they are less complicated for people not as familiar with how such technology works, according to TechSpot.” This is good for the general public, just because of the fact that it is so needed. This need is evident considering the constant information leaks and other hacking debacles. The plain of it is that most people just do not know how to be safe on the internet. They get viruses, fall for scams, or what have you (just ask IT). If two large companies decided to team up on something like this I believe that security could well become something that people are more familiar with. Being that more and more of our lives are online; this needs to happen lest some people become targets for malicious online activity.

                Considering the individual projects listed, they all concern mobile messaging and storage. Not only is this security to stop hackers a la the celebrity nude scandal, but it also harkens back to the NSA. Using this private messaging software allows the user to have perfectly private conversations because of encryption. Most people just do not think they need it because they “have nothing to hide”, or just do not want to put in the effort. If it was all simplified for them, they may change their mind. In this the two companies both agree. "No matter how effective security technologies are, people will not use them unless they become more accessible and easier to understand. We need simpler options for stronger security, available at our fingertips," the two companies said.”

                I believe that their goal can indeed be accomplished. We have seen Google and Dropbox make their many innovations, and with their new goal being security I think it will be something that everyone will be able to adopt. It will probably just be automatically integrated in with the services we are already using. Android is and will continue to be the testing ground for these type of security centric services, so we will see if Apple responds with an alternative security solution or just lets Simply Secure run with it. I do think that this shows great improvement and concern for what the NSA has done, and for the different leaks that have occurred. Hopefully Simply Secure will be able to make our communications and online storage a place that we can safely use.  

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