Changes Brought on by Big Data

This article was written by Samuel Phineas Upham

Big data refers to the collection of information that is so voluminous that it must be compiled into data sets in order to be analyzed and distributed. With big data, sorting by hand becomes impossible. These sets of data require outside applications meant to “crunch” the numbers and arrive at an answer that is beneficial to the user.

Big data is now everywhere. Teachers use it to monitor a student’s performance over time. Companies use it to find marketing opportunities and explore their ideal market. Governments use it to form ideas on population control, social services and other beneficial outcomes.

It’s also the target of hackers who hope to steal personal information with the intention of using it maliciously. The most famous recent attack was a breach of Sony’s online network, but the recent unveiling of the heart bleed vulnerability touched just about every major site on the Web. Hackers see databases as easy targets. If the company, say Target, doesn’t take tangible steps to secure their servers it’s an easy payday for individuals with the resources and time to mount an attack.

Big data is also difficult to work with using traditional management systems. When dealing with big data, companies must come up with a system to extract the relevant data points and begin to form a picture they can act on. Some companies also scale better than others, so one company may find one hundred gigabytes of data difficult while another might not strain until that number gets closer to hundreds of terabytes.