Now more so than ever consumers are taking advantage of social media platforms to communicate, conduct daily business, and advertise on the Internet. Most social media platforms require users to input some type of personal information. Some users have no qualms about placing personal data, including their name, address, telephone number and even social security number into social media data files. Is this really safe, and a good idea, given the number of security breaches that numerous social media agents have experienced in recent years?
Internet Security Breaches
Just recently a popular Web site was cited for posting member’s social security numbers, addresses and other pertinent contact information live on the Web compromising member’s security. Some officials suggest that hackers invaded the website and were responsible for posting this information. It is possible that hackers from an outside region according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service Department, may have been responsible. Postings of famous celebrities, former political agents and other personnel were also compromised.
Credit Reporting Agencies
In this particular hacking attack, the hackers got hold of private information from credit reporting agencies and gained access to credit reports from third party sites including annualcreditreport.com, a free service. This means that if hackers get hold of personal information from Web sites, they can use this information to access a personal user’s credit report from other sites, and further compromise security.
Safety Precautions
What can users do to protect themselves from security threats on the Web? Typically most websites have very strict credentialing processes, but this is not always the case. It is common for hackers to break into websites looking for very specific information including Social Security numbers and addresses for the specific intent of gaining access to credit reports.
These attacks are currently on the rise because many companies have very loose confidentiality processes and according to officials, many consumers have very easy passwords to crack. One of the best ways to help protect information is to develop hard to crack passwords, and to change them frequently to help limit hacker’s ability to break into websites and access confidential information.
If possible, consumers should also limit the amount of personal information they put into certain websites, particularly social media websites that may compromise their personal security due to lax security procedures. Sensitive information is more likely to be pulled from social network and dating sites than other websites because their security methods are not as strict as other websites.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
Leave your comment