I.T. Professionals Back US Government’s Surveillance Strategy

Just a couple of days a go, on March 15 2016, we had published a research report that highlighted the fact that 80% of the internet users deemed privacy as their fundamental right. The findings of that particular study were based on a survey conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

This time around, we have another survey based report to share with our esteemed readers. The results of the survey – that was conducted by a security firm, named, AlienVault are quite interesting. The sample size of this survey consisted of 1,500 I.T. professionals. According to the survey results, more than 30% of  the survey respondents (34% to be precise), were of the opinion that government should have the right to eavesdrop on communication and other internet-related activities, for the sake of national security.

Well, this is an interesting statistic in its own right. More surprisingly, more than 60% of the general public – excluding the so-called IT professionals – seem to be perfectly alright with the US government’s surveillance strategies in place. The simple comparison shows that the percentage of people supporting government’s surveillance initiatives has approximately doubled (34% to 60%).

As a matter of fact, those professionals, working in IT firms have more knowledge as compared to general public out there. These professionals have the opportunity to look at a bigger picture, as to why government seeks to strengthen the control over individual internet user’s activities over the web.

Javvad Malik, Security Advocate for AlienVault has backed the argument with his statement. He said that those in the IT & security industries are uniquely positioned to comment on privacy, because they understand the tools and processes that are frequently used to circumnavigate security protocols.

It’s all due to the threat that cyber criminals, hackers pose to breach into the sensitive and personal information of an individual user, who routinely surf the internet. Continuing with his comments, he also elaborated that they often found that the same vulnerabilities used by intelligence agencies to spy on global citizens can also be exploited by criminals to steal users’ passwords. This gives them a unique perspective on privacy debates and explains why they often have quite different views when compared to the general public. Wise words from the wise man.

There is one more interesting statistic that is totally in contradiction with the first one. More than 30% of the respondents, who participated in the survey – 34% to be precise – held the point of view that strong encryption is the need of the hour. And for that a stricter legislation is really important and the right way to go.

Well, in the wake of the ongoing privacy debate that revolves around Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dispute, more than 60% (63% to be precise) have come up to support the technology giant against FBI. This is also in contradiction of what IT professionals think about government’s legal stance on the subject of privacy.

How the events will unfold in the near future? Well, no one knows. Only time will tell. We just have to wait and watch.