Social networkers leave themselves open to fraud
According to new research, a quarter of the 11 million British users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace may be vulnerable to online identity fraud.
The UK government backed campaign group, Get Safe Online, has issued a fresh warning against people posting their personal details online. Although many users feel comfortable listing their name, address, date of birth and even personal telephone numbers on pages that can be easily viewed by strangers.
“Some of these details may seem harmless, [but] they actually provide rich pickings for criminals.” said Tony Neate, Get Safe Online’s managing director. He continued to explain that just a few of these details are enough for someone to fraudulently apply for a credit card in another’s name.
MySpace and Facebook have both been accused of not treating privacy issues seriously enough in recent years. Many MySpace profiles are freely available for anyone to view, offering no protection to any personal data that might find its way on to a user’s page. A quick search on a search engine is often all that is needed to return personal information held on the site.
Although Facebook users do not have the option to display their details so publicly, the company has courted controversy with their “news feed” feature which automatically updates other users when a profile is changed, notifying them with details such a who is dating whom and which groups someone has joined. After 500,000 users signed an online petition over Facebook’s use of feeds, their founder Mark Zuckerberg was forced to issue an open letter of apology.
In addition to warning social networking users of the risks of posting their personal details online, the Get Safe Online campaign also stressed how easy it is to hack into an unsecured wireless network.
In a demonstration for the BBC, it took just 15 minutes to break into a nearby laptop and steal passwords and other personal data, using tools freely available on the Internet. According to a GSO survey, almost 8 million people in the UK have an Internet connection with no protection which anyone could access.
Tony advises users to take the following security precautions when using the Internet:
- Wherever possible, avoid posting any personal information online.
- Apply the latest security patches to your system, blocking known exploits.
- Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date.
- Change your passwords frequently and avoid using the same password for all websites.
He adds, “It took just 15 minutes to break into the network, but it would take less to make the machine safe.”
Earlier in the year, Get Safe Online found that 12% of Internet users in the UK had fallen victim to online fraud in 2006, with their average loss totalling £875.
Cabinet Office minister Gillian Merron pointed out that despite the risks people should continue using social networking sites and wireless networks, adding that security problems can be easily countered if users are aware of the potential dangers.
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