Cyber criminals can exploit a posting on Facebook or Twitter. A gorgeous PowerPoint attachment may harbor a malicious program. Women are more vulnerable to online security breaches, so here’s a few words from the web-wise
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WeNews correspondent
(WOMENSENEWS)– “Celebrating my birthday tonight at Alfredo’s!”
Supposing it was you who put up this innocent-looking Facebook post. That post would be guaranteed to worry Mark Herschberg, an MIT-trained cryptographer. As a New York-based cyber-security expert and CTO, he would find a number of causes for concern since he knows that women are particularly vulnerable to misuse of information used in social media.
“Your Facebook/Twitter status and photos say a lot about you,” he says, adding, “A determined person may already have found out that you’re a women, learned where you live and whether you live alone. With that post, the bad guy now knows that you’re not home. That post could set you up for a robbery or even a physical attack.”
He goes on to say, “On top of that, the bad guy also knows it’s your birthday, and if he’s a determined cyber-criminal, this could help him hack your identity.”
Identity theft is a serious issue for women. According to the Affinion Security Center, 17% percent of female identity theft victims have lost $1,000 or more due to the crime, versus only 10% of males.
If you were talking with Mark about this, you might answer him, “But I keep my Twitter and Facebook accounts private. Why should I worry?”
His answer: “Even if you have your privacy settings set to friends of friends, some of those friends might be easy-going and accept all friend requests, and now you have a hole in your security. Cybercriminals are out there, looking to exploit those kinds of holes.”