Security Breaches Galore

It has come to the point now that data security breaches have become
an almost daily event.  A quick perusal
[here](https://breachlevelindex.com/) reveals how serious the issue
has become.  Also see here:

https://tinyurl.com/ybu5cs9s
source: https://tinyurl.com/gscz3xq

And, of course not included in the trend line is the latest Marriot
breach...\*sigh*

So, what to do?  I have given serious thought to abandoning the idea
of conducting any transactions online and going retro with writing a
check and sticking it in an envelope and mailing it. Even that is
risky since the check would have my name and account number, which
means that I have to purchase money orders instead of using checks.
Either way, that would require some measure of up front work to turn
off autopay with the various institutions I do business with and
have them send monthly statements which goes totally contrary to the
nudging

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory

that most of these institutions have been performing with their
customers.  The harsh reality is data security as well as data
privacy is a pipe dream. I'm still on the fence as to how to
proceed, but in the mean time, I have taken extra measures to
strengthen my passwords and employ two factor authorization when
available.  I installed
[Password-Gorilla](https://github.com/zdia/gorilla/wiki) password
manager and reset the passwords on critical sites with (hopefully)
very strong randomly generated passwords.  Along with that, I
performed a fresh install of Lubuntu 16.04.  Not a permanent
solution, but until I can come a decision on how to proceed, it
should at least help.  My credit reports have been frozen since the
Equifax debacle.

Circling back to the internet and it's corresponding energy
footprint, in light of the increasing frequency of security
breaches, it seems that data security measures most likely will be
taking an increasingly larger piece of the energy pie.

https://tinyurl.com/y7rxbaco
source: https://tinyurl.com/ycy232hm

It is an interesting read regarding energy use of the internet.
Although not reflected in the pie chart, I suspect energy
consumption in every slice of chart is going to have some energy
usage percentage of data security.  What is not taken into account
in the energy footprint of the internet is the energy inputs
required to manufacture components and maintain the infrastructure.
After all the smoke clears what we have is a colossal amount of
energy consumption.  For the moment, most of these costs are being
footed by cheap debt and venture capital investors.  Energy
consumption aside, the internet (as we know it currently) is not
economically viable even though some of the big guns are cutting
their energy footprint by using renewable sources.  John Michael
Greer's article: [The Death of the Internet: A
Pre-Mortem] https://tinyurl.com/ydclzyrv
is worth the read.  His argument about the economic unsustainability
of the internet is sound and the latest onslaught of data breaches
may be the proverbial straw.  He makes an interesting point that may
signal what is yet to come:

"Now of course the world of the future isn’t going to
consist of a single community surrounded by desolate
wasteland. That’s one of the reasons why the demise of the
internet won’t happen all at once. Telecommunications
companies serving some of the more impoverished parts of
rural America are already letting their networks in those
areas degrade, since income from customers doesn’t cover
the costs of maintenance. To my mind, that’s a harbinger
of the internet’s future -- a future of uneven decline
punctuated by local and regional breakdowns, some of which
will be fixed for a while."

Hmm...I think I'll put envelopes on my shopping list.