By now many of you have heard or read about the various threats posed by participating in the enormously popular world of online social networking through sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like. Most of those concerns have focused on risks associated with teenagers and young children communicating with people they either don’t know or with people they think they know but who are misrepresenting themselves to get closer to the kids. Those concerns, in fact, are real but as it turns out there are equally significant risks for adults as well.
Recent studies have shown that thieves may be gleaning information about us from our profiles and our posts. They may be after this information for the purpose of identity theft, they may be looking to find out what kind of “stuff” you have and when the best time would be to “visit” your home, or depending on your type of work, they may be involved in some type of espionage. Whether you have access to classified material or not, you might be a target just because of your employer.
Think about the type of information people post online about themselves, things such as big purchases or gifts received, work schedules and vacation plans, or even photos which may include a lot of information about the contents of one’s home. Most of us would not be in favor of displaying our monthly calendars on the front door or placing an inventory list of our valuables on a sign in the front yard so it makes sense to use caution about what we publicize.
It would be very easy to get paranoid about using social networks but that is not what is advocated. Because of the internet, anyone can find out much of what they need to know about you just by performing a search on your name, address or phone number, so staying off the social networks is not going to keep you safe from the folks that are motivated to dig up information. However, what is being advocated is the use of common sense and a little caution.
Some Good Advice:
- Familiarize yourself with the privacy settings of the social network(s) you use. Tweak them as much as possible to restrict how public your profile may be.
- Even with good privacy settings, be aware that your profile and conversations can often be seen by friends or your friends (i.e., complete strangers).
- Think twice about talking about your work or posting photos from work, particularly if you are a Government employee, member of the U.S. Military or Government contractor.
- Take a look at the personal information listed on your profile (or what you are thinking about listing) and make sure you are not giving out more information than you want people to know.
- Consider your online “appearance”. Make sure you don’t look (or sound) like someone who would be a good target for burglary or espionage.
- Try not to publicize when you will be leaving your house unattended. Instead, talk about your vacation after you return.
Essentially, just like going to the mall or to a show downtown for the evening, as already stated, be cautious and use common sense. It is a fact, there are bad people out there and they are looking for vulnerabilities in potential targets. Just being aware of this fact and being mindful to minimize possible attack vectors could keep you, your loved ones, and your valuables out of harms way.
