Brits Risk Identity Theft Online - Survey
By Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributor
New research by BullGuard states that Brits can be highly complacent when posting personal or potentially sensitive data online. The company conducted a survey in this regard and discovered worrying details.
36 percent admitted to posting their pets’ names on public pages, 24 percent shared children’s names, 7 percent their address, and 11 percent showed off photos of high-value goods such as a car or TV when questioned specifically about social networking services such as Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter. Potentially alerting their absence to thieves, over a third of Facebook and Twitter users admit to updating their profile to inform people that they are away for the weekend or going on holiday, the study stated.
“Though this sort of information may seem harmless to share with others, much of it is commonly used as security questions when accessing an online bank or confirming identity over the phone,” says Claus Villumsen, internet security expert at BullGuard. “It’s also a bad idea to publicize the fact that you will be away for any period of time, especially if the house will then be empty, as this just gives more information to would-be thieves.”
Social networking allows users to share information and build a “personality”; but this is something that malicious users are also aware of. This makes it an attractive way to build up a profile on an individual. A number of simple safeguards can be used to help ensure that users don’t become a target, though excessive caution may take the fun out of such activities, the company stated in a press release.
In another recently published study, the company stated that more than half of parents snoop on their children's online activity. The survey, which interviewed 2000 internet users across the UK, found that 55 percent of parents "keep an eye" on a son or daughter by checking their social networking profile, with a further 5 percent saying "they would if they knew how". Four in ten parents admitted to regularly checking their children's social media status updates.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
