Internet Security will always be a concern, and as more and more social networks emerge, identity theft is becoming more easier than ever. “Tweeting Thieves” may become the next generation’s new label for “hacker” – and the catch is you don’t need the expertise to recover data from hard drives in order to do it! This means far more people can easily rob you without even stealing information from your computer. They may still be taking it, but after all you’re giving it to them!
While this generation has come to base popularity by the number of “friends” you have on Facebook or “followers” on Twitter, perhaps you should consider how well you really know these “friends.” Especially if you have hundreds of friends who also have hundreds of friends who can see your profile! Mobile numbers, addresses, birth dates, everything can easily be accessible to anyone if you display it. Even worse why take the time to “phish” on Twitter, when someone has just tweeted that they will be heading on a cross-country road trip to Yellowstone for the next couple of weeks?
Now with smartphones and mobile social networking applications and sites such MocoSpace and Foursquare, people are tending to share more “status updates” than ever. Innovative technology allowing us to be constantly connected can be beneficial, however, with everything it takes a level of common sense from the user in order to be successful.
So next time before asking yourself how to install antivirus software, you may want to think about your mobile device and question do my “friends” and “connections” really need to know where I am and what I’m doing at that exact moment.
So right Frank, transparency doesn’t preclude the need for reasonable caution. It only takes one person with questionable motives to turn your world upside down. You can be real, be open, and and still be smart.
Jonathan,
It is true, it takes one bad decision that can wreck havoc.
I wish parents would teach the dangers of giving too much information to their kids before it’s too late. What you put on the web stays on the web forever. Personal stuff can easily fall in to the wrong hands through your friends from fb and like.
I think that half or one-third of our facebook friends are just friends in facebook and not in personal. I’ve heard about news that someone got killed because she posted all information in her facebook account. We should be careful of our actions and what we are posting in facebook.
Parents nowadays must be more responsible for guiding their children from strangers of Social Networking Sites because if they don’t, their kids may find the wrong person on the internet.
Luke,
Very true, but usually in this day and age both parents work. It is hard to keep track 24/7 of what kids do online.