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What would we do without social media? Facebook users wouldn’t be able to enjoy their high school bullies’ misfortunes. Mom wouldn’t be able to spy on her miscreant offspring. Twitter users wouldn’t be able to further their professional development, keep on top of trends and explain why they need Tums this afternoon. And MySpace users (hopefully not older than high school age) use the site as a way to emote through edgy wallpaper and depressing music.
Whatever your reasons for using social media, you could be putting yourself in danger without knowing it. What if somebody stole your persona and gave colleagues the impression that you do body shots at a seedy club? Or that you still watch Heroes? What if somebody blackmailed you after you gave them classified information?
We Don’t Care
The Ponemon Institute says not too many people think about that. According to June study that spread like a Susan Boyle video on YouTube, more than 80 percent of respondents were concerned about social media identity theft but did nothing to prevent it.
Further findings reveal that: 65 percent eschew privacy settings, more than 90 percent don’t read privacy policies and 40 percent share their physical address online. To add to these startling findings, victims of prior ID theft are as at-risk of ID theft as non-victims – both equally lack in security precautions.
More findings:
- 60 percent aren’t sure their privacy can be protected
- 44 percent would still use social media if they knew they were unprotected
- 60 percent aren’t sure if they could trust (or even know) those in their network
Ponemon recommends the following:
- Make sure your social media settings are set on high security.
- Review your social media platforms’ privacy policies.
- Pick a strong password.
- Log off when you are finished.
- Ensure a secure wireless connection.
Social Media ID Theft Won’t Go Away
The New York Times calls these thieves “digital squatters,” most notably cropping up when Facebook decided to give users customized URLs. Internet security expert Robert Siciliano says that there is no way to 100 percent protect yourself from identity theft. Motivations vary, he adds, but most do it for financial gain or to stalk and harass others.
He recommends in the Huffington Post that users protect themselves from social media identify theft in the following ways: Google themselves and see that they find; stake claim on user names on all social networking platforms; set up Google Alerts of their name; seek out online reputation and antivirus services; blog to increase positive reputation; and notify site administrators of any foul play. Even message boards and YouTube channels aren’t immune to social identity theft, he says.
Practicing Safe SM
Personal finance expert columnist Kathy Kristoff tells CNN that you don’t have to give up on participating in social media, but that there are certain things that just should be kept off-limits. These include birthplace and date, home address and password clues.
Johnny Widerlund, senior technologies director of Lavasoft, admits on Search Engine Watch that for most of us, quitting social media isn’t an option. He recommends we refrain from connecting with strangers, watch our children, limit our application use, watch what we click, and keep up on the latest Internet scams.
Identity Theft 101
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that $9 million Americans a year lose their identities to theft. These thieves may rent a home in your name or open a utility account or credit card in your name. Victims often are unaware of the theft until they are contacted by collection agencies.
Not all ID theft cases are resolved quickly, and in some cases it can cost hundreds of dollars and untold amounts of time to bounce back. ID theft can make employers pass you up for a job, and you can be rejected for student loans and financing for cars of houses. Some have even been arrested.
If you find out that you are a victim of identity theft, file a police report, check out your credit card reports, notify creditors and file any necessary disputes.
What would we do without social media? Facebook users wouldn’t be able to enjoy their high school bullies’ misfortunes. Mom wouldn’t be able to spy on her miscreant offspring. Twitter users wouldn’t be able to further their professional development, keep on top of trends and explain why they need Tums this afternoon. And MySpace users (hopefully not older than high school age) use the site as a way to emote themselves through edgy wallpaper and depressing music.
Whatever your reasons for using social media, you could be putting yourself in danger without knowing it. What if somebody stole your persona and gave colleagues the impression that you do body shots at a seedy club? Or that you still watch Heroes? What if somebody blackmailed you after you gave them classified information?
We Don’t Care
The Ponemon Institute says not too many people think about that. According to June study that spread like a Susan Boyle video on YouTube, more than 80 percent of respondents were concerned about social media identity theft but did nothing to prevent it.
Further findings reveal that: 65 percent eschew privacy settings, more than 90 percent don’t read privacy policies and 40 percent share their physical address online. To add to these startling findings, victims of prior ID theft are as at-risk of ID theft as non-victims – both equally lack in security precautions.
More findings:
· 60 percent aren’t sure their privacy can be protected
· 44 percent would still use social media if they knew they were unprotected
· 60 percent aren’t sure if they could trust (or even know) those in their network
Ponemon recommends the following:
1. Make sure your social media settings are set on high security.
2. Review your social media platforms’ privacy policies.
3. Pick a strong password.
4. Log off when you are finished.
5. Ensure a secure wireless connection.
Social Media ID Theft Won’t Go Away
The New York Times calls these thieves “digital squatters,” most notably present when Facebook decided to give users customized URLs. Internet security expert Robert Siciliano says that there is no way to 100 percent protect yourself from identity theft. Motivations vary, he adds, but most do it for financial gain or to stalk and harass others.
He recommends in the Huffington Post that users: Google themselves and see that they find; stake claim on user names on all social networking platforms; set up Google Alerts of their name; seek out online reputation and antivirus services; blog to increase positive reputation; and notify site administrators of any foul play. Even message boards and YouTube channels aren’t immune to social identity theft, he says.
Practicing Safe SM
Personal finance expert columnist Kathy Kristoff tells CNN that you don’t have to give up on participating in social media, but that there are certain things that just should be kept off-limits. These include birthplace and date, home address and password clues.
Johnny Widerlund, senior technologies director of Lavasoft, admits on Search Engine Watch that for most of us, quitting social media isn’t an option. He recommends we don’t connect with strangers, watch our children, limit our application use, watch what we click, and keep up on the latest Internet scams.
Identity Theft 101
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that $9 million Americans a year lose their identities to theft. These thieves may rent a home in your name or open a utility account or credit card in your name. Victims often are unaware of the theft until they are contacted by collection agencies.
Not all ID theft cases are resolved quickly, and in some cases it can cost hundreds of dollars and untold amounts of time to bounce back. ID theft can make employers pass you up for a job, and you can be rejected for student loans and financing for cars of houses. Some have even been arrested.
If you find out that you are a victim of identity theft, file a police report, check out your credit card reports, notify creditors and file any necessary disputes. Are you disturbed by these social media identity theft statistics? Share this post on Twitter
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Outright is secure.
What do you think?
Are you concerned about ID theft via social media?
What steps do you take on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to protect your identity? Didn't know there was a problem? Check out our blog post on Social Media Identity Theft.
3
Very easy actually. I use a program called Keepass, which use can use to come up with some heavy-duty passwords (for example, a password created in Keepass can look like this: $iKYs8y5LA4%H@ztnE&Q) and you can customize it even further. Passwords like that make it very difficult for script kiddies to crack.
Regardless, we're well beyond the days when 12345 or even the "at least one capital, one lower, one number, one special character" is effective. People need far stronger passwords than their dog's name.
Posted Jul 26, 2010 12:18:54 PM by: Megami Studios
Responded Jul 26, 2010 12:22:24 PM by: Megami Studios
1
I would love to say what I do but it would compromise my security.
One of my banks security is so tight I couldn't even get access to my account when I phoned them up. I only managed 3 of the 6 security questions (usually do on-line banking but it was down for maintenance) and I was passed to the fraud department. I only managed 1 of 4 of their back up security questions. I was told I had to go to the local branch. All I wanted to do was add my new mobile number to the records. I didn't even want to do any transactions.
I know somebody who uses a translator to generate passwords. He does this on his computer at work for his home computer. He types a sentence such as "yesterday, the grey mouse apple tree was chopped up for dog purple firewood."
He then feeds this into a translator choosing a random language, repeats this 3 or 4 times (translation of a translation of a translation etc) until he has a sentence in a language he does not understand.
He then takes random numbers and slots them into the gaps. Then from this he will take a "password" of 15 characters to use. He writes it on a piece of paper which gets filed away in his house.
When he gets home he decides how long the password and will be and start the password where he wants ie if a minimum of 8 is required he might start it at character 4.
Posted Jul 31, 2010 7:03:40 AM by: Studio Stitches