PrincessBandit
3rd March 2010, 05:42
I just read this morning that crims are using social networking sites to fish for personal information in order to gain personal details which can benefit their own dodgy activities. No surprise really, given that the popularity of bebo and twitter etc. encourage people to post info about every little detail about their lives and it's there for pretty much anyone to see.
This type of phishing is not new (even the word "phishing" didn't get the red dotted underlined spellcheck treatment when I typed it!!!) but most of us associate it more with ensuring security regarding fiscal transactions over the net. How many post upcoming holiday details etc. with little thought to who might get to read them?
Apparently there is a Dutch website called PleaseRobMe.com which has been set up to draw people's attention to this topic (not to advertise likely targets, but to educate the man in the street about how easy it is for undesirables to learn of their private information, I believe).
I remember even back in the 70s whenever our family went away on holiday (which wasn't very often) that especially us kids were like "our lips are sealed" - we weren't to talk to anyone about what the family plans were as we already knew there were child burglars at the very least operating in our street. It was something we tried to instill in our own offspring, not spouting off to every tom dick and harry about our intended absences from home, yet with the ease of the internet we spill info so easily about our comings and goings without a thought. I'm sure this is something we'd never do if it translated into the equivalent of blabbing f2f with others!
Why does the internet seduce us into handing over valuable personal information which we'd never otherwise "publish" so publicly?
This type of phishing is not new (even the word "phishing" didn't get the red dotted underlined spellcheck treatment when I typed it!!!) but most of us associate it more with ensuring security regarding fiscal transactions over the net. How many post upcoming holiday details etc. with little thought to who might get to read them?
Apparently there is a Dutch website called PleaseRobMe.com which has been set up to draw people's attention to this topic (not to advertise likely targets, but to educate the man in the street about how easy it is for undesirables to learn of their private information, I believe).
I remember even back in the 70s whenever our family went away on holiday (which wasn't very often) that especially us kids were like "our lips are sealed" - we weren't to talk to anyone about what the family plans were as we already knew there were child burglars at the very least operating in our street. It was something we tried to instill in our own offspring, not spouting off to every tom dick and harry about our intended absences from home, yet with the ease of the internet we spill info so easily about our comings and goings without a thought. I'm sure this is something we'd never do if it translated into the equivalent of blabbing f2f with others!
Why does the internet seduce us into handing over valuable personal information which we'd never otherwise "publish" so publicly?