You’re sitting in a coffee shop, reading the latest issue of the GUSTAVIAN WEEKLY, when you get a message on your smartphone. You pull out your phone and check it out, and while you have it out you also check Facebook, Twitter, and your bank account. What you don’t know is that twenty feet away from you is sitting a hacker using the router in the coffee shop to leech your information and drain your accounts before you even know what has happened. Suddenly you have nothing.

In an age of rising technology this is a very real fear to have, a fear of those who know how to use that technology to their advantage and take control of other’s lives; hackers. Today many people keep their daily schedules, books, and personal information such as credit cards on a device that can fit in your pocket. This device is also a portal to the internet from anywhere there is Wi-Fi or a 4G signal.

The largest threat to the use of electronics, however, is the fact that a device or database can be accessed by anyone with enough knowledge or permissions to do so.

However, this also makes people vulnerable. Anyone who has the knowledge and means can hack into a cellphone and learn anything about that cellphone’s owner that they wish. It’s a scary reality that has come to fruition many times, and not just to individuals. In the wake of the recent government hacks it may be time to take a good long look at the benefits and drawbacks of keeping important information in databases and hard drives.

There are many benefits to the rise and use of technology, the first being a benefit to the environment in the reduction of paper production. With all important information being stored digitally rather than in hard copy it reduces the number of trees cut down for paper every year. This number increases even more dramatically when e-books, e-newspapers, and other electronic databases of information are taken into account. In this respect technology as a great boon to the reduction of deforestation movement for areas such as the Amazon Rainforest.

Another benefit is organization. Rather than files taking up an entire warehouse, a single large computer mainframe can store exponentially more files while taking up far less space. This allows for a mass distribution and accumulation of information by a person or company. It also allows the use of videos as a way to record information, such as vlogs, and store it digitally rather than on a DVD or VHS tape.

However these advantages come at some very serious costs. While the production of paper decreases, mining rises to all new highs in the modern century. Many precious metals are needed to make the various electronic parts within the circuitry of cellphones, computers, and tablets.

Mining can be damaging to environment, possibly even more so than deforestation when it is done improperly. These resources aren’t infinite either, and it’s already becoming such a problem that people are now “mining” for precious metals to sell out of discarded electronic devices.

The largest threat to the use of electronics, however, is the fact that a device or database can be accessed by anyone with enough knowledge or permissions to do so.

The consequences of this have already been demonstrated over the years with the Target hack scandal, and the recent attacks on the government such as those on the personal email of Hillary Clinton, and the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden.

Cyber-attacks and cyber-warfare have become a very real and very frightening fact for the American people. Many are asking what can be done about it.

On a personal level the answer is relatively straightforward if not easy. Learn basic coding, especially in a modern language such as Python. Knowing code opens up a whole new world of electronic control that allows for the construction of complex programs and firewalls to protect personal electronics from common hackers.

But what about on a global scale? What can be done to prevent hacks targeting the U.S. Government? The answer isn’t as simple as “hack the hackers” or “build a better firewall”, because at some point those solutions can be worked around. Perhaps quitting electronics cold turkey and going back to paper?  This isn’t a feasible option when so much information is stored electronically.

What it boils down to is that humanity is in a new age of technology, and it has opened us up to a brand new form of attack. Where will it lead? Only time can tell us.