You might be surprised what sorts
of personal online information can be used by the wrong people against you.
Some things like a home address or social security number are pretty obvious.
The trouble is that seemingly harmless items can provide crooks of all kinds
just the right key to access your home or bank account or even engage in
identity theft with your personal details.
Real Name
While many people use their real
names on social media pages, it's typically a good idea to use a pseudonym, at
least for your surname. Most websites store user information in a cloud of some
kind. An example of the cloud being compromised by hackers was the Heartbleed
Bug, which allowed hackers to access cloud-stored information and
find tons of real names, which they were able to link to other sensitive
information. This demonstrates how important it is for companies to choose
trusted hosting providers, like SingleHop, to host their IT infrastructure.
While new IT security measures have made it more difficult for hackers to
access secure cloud servers, it's still a good idea to be especially cautious
when it comes to Internet security. If you’re interested in seeing what types
of servers are available to companies looking for a host, check out SingleHop’s
page on dedicated servers.
Birth Date
There has been a huge rise in
cyber crime in the past 5 years. Any information that will help someone
identify you should be kept private. Your birth date is an easy way for
someone to find out which John Smith you are. It can be used to track down
other pieces of information such as where you've lived before. It could be used
by an identity thief to create false documents such as a state driver's
license.
Security Question Answers
A common method used by secure
websites is to ask about personal things like the name of your childhood pet,
the town you grew up in, or your mother's maiden name. This information can
easily slip out on your personal page, even in the form of an old picture. This
gives thieves just what they need to break into an online bank account or similar
asset. These questions are asked by these sites in case you can't remember your
password. With this information, the bad guys won't need your password to
commit cyber crime.
Vacation Plans
I understand the desire to share
exciting news, such as upcoming trips. However, I avoid sharing this
information online, and I wait until I arrive back at home to share pictures of
our excursions. The reason is simple. You may think you are sharing the
information only with your family and friends, but can you be sure of that?
There have been many cases of burglars discovering that someone will be away
from home due to online postings on social media sites.
While I'm browsing the Internet,
all kinds of information is being collected about me. Advertisers use this to
customize the ads I see online. Some of it is to make recommendations on things
I should look at. When you have the option to give out information about
yourself, think twice about who wants this and what they might do with it. What
you choose not to share might just make the difference.
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