{"id":14136,"date":"2020-09-18T17:30:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T20:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/?p=14136"},"modified":"2020-09-18T17:31:36","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T20:31:36","slug":"metadata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/","title":{"rendered":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each photo taken by cell phone becomes a file saved on the device or in a cloud computing system. These files have a part dedicated to recording various information, such as the date the photo was taken, time, location, device name, serial number and, often, the name of the owner. These additional records are called\u00a0metadata<\/b>, and are not present only in photos.<\/p>\n

Virtually every type of file has associated\u00a0metadata<\/b>, such as Word, Excel documents and files with PDF extensions. Each of them has its own\u00a0metadata<\/b>, including information such as the name of the computer or device, times when the file was accessed and changes made.<\/p>\n

As much as they are useful for countless professional activities, and even for those who like to keep folders organized, this data can be used to expose the user\u2019s privacy, giving possible intruders fundamental information to map their habits.<\/p>\n

Overkill? Not so much. There have been cases of companies sued for plagiarism claiming that, in reality, they had new, authentic files created by them. The\u00a0metadata<\/b>, however, proved that it was a file from another company, which was modified to look like an original document, since the records of everything that was changed in it were saved in the\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 as a history that records its entire trajectory.<\/p>\n

That way, even a Word document sent by an employee to a customer, in an email attachment, can carry essential business information with them.<\/p>\n

Why then were\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago. That is, it is since ancient times that this type of information has been used to classify, organize and search.<\/p>\n

In this context, business definitions and rules, domain information, security details and, among others, XML tags are\u00a0metadata<\/b>, and all have a thousand possibilities of use.<\/p>\n

Various uses<\/h2>\n

Imagine the usefulness of\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0in managing files and information. In the physical stock of a virtual store, for example, they provide the location, the box number, label and the entire classification system, as well as the sender\u2019s records and what data must accompany the order, such as a telephone number for contact at delivery time.<\/p>\n

Going beyond document management, they become a strategic tool. This is the case of Data Warehouse technology, which deals with the extraction and consolidation of information from multiple sources, gathered on a basis that allows it to be consulted in various ways by managers.<\/p>\n

When applied more widely,\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0represents a real revolution on the internet. It is the concept of the Semantic Web, which is an interconnection that will provide the chance for computers and humans to act at a different level of cooperation.<\/p>\n

On the Semantic Web, all information will come with a well-defined meaning, easily identifiable and classifiable by search engines. That is, generic results or little connected to the research purposes will become increasingly rare.<\/p>\n

Thus, Semantic Web should be seen as something comprehensive, with the aim of making the internet a refined global database. It will then be possible to obtain semantically interrelated data, and not just a list of documents in the searches we do on the internet \u2013 often without a semantic link between them.<\/p>\n

Caution in each file<\/h2>\n

Software has numerous ways of collecting data from users. In Word, for example, footnotes can include author information, which is then recorded in the\u00a0metadata<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In addition, there are functions that allow several changes to disappear from the screen, but will remain in the file\u2019s metadata \u2013 such as changing owner names or attached image files that have been replaced.<\/p>\n

In both cases, the metadata will record that one has been exchanged for another, even though only the most recent are visible, since the previous ones have been exchanged.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0can be changed by the users themselves. There are ways to do this, through the operating system or special software. Depending on the case,\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0may not be reliable in isolation, requiring the presence of other records to verify its veracity. In this context, a malicious employee could delete traces of problems caused by themselves.<\/p>\n

Thus, if\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0can reduce users\u2019 privacy, with possible exposure of information, they represent a problem for digital security \u2013 something more pronounced in companies. After all, they are records with names of employees involved in certain projects, times and days they are working, among others.<\/p>\n

In the event of an invasion, in addition to exposing the files, which alone can cause inconvenience to companies,\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0can provide details on how the work is done and which professionals are involved, for example, something valuable in the hands of the competition. It is something that can be done even if attackers are unable to open the files, as some\u00a0metadata<\/b>\u00a0can be viewed without opening the files.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Would you like to know more about\u00a0metadata<\/b>? Want to know more about digital security? Follow us on our social networks and stay on top of all our content:\u00a0<\/span>Linkedin<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each photo taken by cell phone becomes a file saved on the device or in a cloud computing system. These files have a part dedicated to recording various information, such as the date the photo was taken, time, location, device name, serial number and, often, the name of the owner. These additional records are called\u00a0metadata, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[984,992],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-learning-and-discovery"],"yoast_head":"\nMetadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ostec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"928\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thais Souza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ostecsecurity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ostecsecurity\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thais Souza\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ca88ecd81da20ed5773cd0959c645c33\"},\"headline\":\"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\"},\"wordCount\":846,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General\",\"Learning and discovery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\",\"name\":\"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg\",\"width\":928,\"height\":534},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"In\u00edcio\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados\",\"description\":\"Empresa especializada na oferta de produtos e servi\u00e7os de seguran\u00e7a digital.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"OSTEC Business Security\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo_ostec_250.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo_ostec_250.png\",\"width\":251,\"height\":67,\"caption\":\"OSTEC Business Security\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ostec\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ostecsecurity\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ostecsecurity\/\",\"https:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/ostec-security\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ca88ecd81da20ed5773cd0959c645c33\",\"name\":\"Thais Souza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400dde6458954de06efa803109767977?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400dde6458954de06efa803109767977?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thais Souza\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/author\/thais-souza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados","description":"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados","og_description":"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.","og_url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/","og_site_name":"OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ostec","article_published_time":"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":928,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thais Souza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ostecsecurity","twitter_site":"@ostecsecurity","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/"},"author":{"name":"Thais Souza","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ca88ecd81da20ed5773cd0959c645c33"},"headline":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have","datePublished":"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/"},"wordCount":846,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg","articleSection":["General","Learning and discovery"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/","url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/","name":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have - OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-18T20:30:50+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-18T20:31:36+00:00","description":"Why then were\u00a0metadata\u00a0created, if they can represent an eventual digital security problem? In reality, its concept was conceived centuries ago.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/metadados.jpg","width":928,"height":534},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/general\/metadata\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"In\u00edcio","item":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Metadata: the hidden information about each file you have"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/","name":"OSTEC | Seguran\u00e7a digital de resultados","description":"Empresa especializada na oferta de produtos e servi\u00e7os de seguran\u00e7a digital.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#organization","name":"OSTEC Business Security","url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo_ostec_250.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo_ostec_250.png","width":251,"height":67,"caption":"OSTEC Business Security"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ostec","https:\/\/x.com\/ostecsecurity","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ostecsecurity\/","https:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/ostec-security"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ca88ecd81da20ed5773cd0959c645c33","name":"Thais Souza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400dde6458954de06efa803109767977?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400dde6458954de06efa803109767977?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thais Souza"},"url":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/author\/thais-souza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostec.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}