We all know Mozilla as the non-profit organization that supports and collectively leads open source projects including Firefox, Thunderbird and whatnot. In fact, the foundation describes itself as a non-profit organization promoting openness, innovation and participation on the internet. To achieve that, Mozilla follows a list of 10 principles which, as the organization puts it, are critical for the internet to continue benefiting the public good and the commercial aspects of life.
Since we are talking about Mozilla and its achievements, this is the perfect way to hit the new alpha version of the company’s current Internet Health Report, issued in January 2017. Although it contains some disturbing information by confirming how sensitive this area is, it also provides very useful and detailed information on other aspects.
Mozilla based the alpha version of its latest report on 5 key areas, all of which come with detailed information and accurate graphics: open innovation, digital inclusion, decentralization, privacy and security, and web literacy. With the growing amount of threats the online world is facing lately, the report doesn’t state anything new. In fact, Mark Surman, the executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, confirmed that in spite of the Internet of Things bringing good to our lives and society, we are getting closer to a world where we no longer simply use a computer, but live inside it. In other words, our lives turn into open books, vulnerable to devious attacks.
Focusing on this topic alone, Mozilla recognizes the efforts the world has been doing for a safer and more private online world. Furthermore, the report praises growing public awareness about privacy being under threat in the digital sphere. This statement is confirmed by the increasing amount of ad-blockers with which users effectively close one of the main doors for malware attacks. The Foundation was also happy to find out that more messaging apps, including WhatsApp, are making end-to-end encryption a common trend. The report mentions the launch of Let’s Encrypt, a new certificate authority that makes adding HTTPS to any website easy without asking a single monetary contribution from web developers. Mozilla is also glad that internet communications will become faster and more private due to the upcoming new version of the TLS 1.3 cryptographic protocol, which replaces the already decent TLS 1.2.
However, there’s still much to be done according to Mozilla. If we learned one thing from the Snowden case, it is that mass digital surveillance by governments knows no boundaries. In fact, Freedom House told us that we should forget about the term free internet, since it has already become a relic of the past, due to the massive approval of online dictatorship laws in some countries.
The report also warns about the dangers of IoT devices, especially considering the growing number thereof. Unfortunately, IoT devices contribute a lot to the spread of ransomware or DDoS attacks which could end up targeting hospitals, schools, hotels and even public transport. Aside from the above, massive data breaches can become more of a recurring problem, putting at risk our notion of online safety.
All of these concerns just further confirmed the conclusion of the Mozilla Foundation: the internet depends on the security and trust of its users to such extent that it is the only way it can function in a healthy manner.
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