The World Wide Web, which in common terms is also called the Web, WWW or W3, was developed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The purpose of the Web, according to him, was to create a method by which scientists could easily share the data of their experiments and findings.
Although the internet existed at that time, there were no means to connect to access the documents directly. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system where documents and other web resources are re-accessed by people through URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
Usually, people confuse WWW or Web with the internet. Although they are connected in reality, there is a clear difference between the two. As its name suggests, the internet is a massive, global network that acts as a foundation for smaller networks.
On the other hand, the Web (WWW) is a communications model that, through HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, provides direct sharing and exchanging of documents.
The World Wide Web (WWW) was, at first, used as a means of sharing information. But now, our universal habits like bills payment or voting can be made online.
Security and privacy protection on the internet
But like anything on the internet, security for these services is an important issue, if not the most critical issue. People did not give personal privacy and security much thought during the early days.
Ways your data can get hacked
But over time, as technology progressed, the importance of protecting personal information and data from hackers also became a topic of concern for many users.
Due to many loopholes in web-based technologies, hackers, attackers, or spies can access your personal search history or messages on your confidential data such as credit card numbers or even steal your identity online.
There are also ways to falsely take the information out of you by impersonating you as an authorized person or official; for example, to gather your bank information, a person might imitate being a web banker.
Nowadays, as everything is being done online, much personal information is spread worldwide. The web pages that we visit and emails that we receive a virus, which might be very harmful to your pc/laptop. An attacker might attract you towards their web page containing a virus.
Prevention of leaked privacy
The issue of personal privacy and personal protection from hackers and attackers on the internet and the World Wide Web is a concern for every one of us who goes online.
As the use of technology is increasing globally, there is also a need to devise methods to protect personal data.
Luckily, there are some effective methods which you can use or implement on your computer. Such changes can help to protect your data from leaking or falling into the wrong hands. These changes are:
- Install antivirus software on your pc/laptop
- Use Unique login and password for every new account
- Use VPN
- Enable two-factor authentication on your accounts
- Use a different email address for separate accounts
- Clear cache of pc/laptop
These are some tips that can help protect your personal information when you use the World Wide Web. Aside from these, there are also many ways through which we can safely surf the Web.
Wrap Up
As it is said that everything has a positive and a negative aspect, the use of the Web and the internet is also a double-edged sword. The Web allows us to view information and services from across the world, leaving us vulnerable to hackers and attackers spread across the internet. But by taking proper measures discussed above, we can reduce, if not completely stop, the never-ending concern of our online privacy being breached and our information and data being leaked to unintended people and parties with malicious intentions.
