Burglars exploiting Facebook
Have you heard of the "Digital Criminal"? These guys are not the computer hackers we all know about, but the everyday burglar who has a internet connection and is your friend on Facebook or Twitter. Found this article which hopefully make you think about the type of information you post to social networking sites.
I'm sure that you have heard about the guy who came home from holiday to find everything missing, but how did the criminals know that he and his family were away? He mentioned that this fact on Twitter, a service where anyone can be your friend and read your comments.
And herein lies the point: how well do we know the people who are our friends on these services, where they have access to our comings and goings?
"To test how readily people accepted "friends" online, Legal & Generals survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 "friend" or "follow" requests to strangers selected at random.
Of those 13% were accepted on Facebook and 92% on Twitter -- without any checks.
But despite these new "friends," the survey found that nearly two-thirds, or 64%, of 16- to 24-year-olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts.
Men were found to be quite relaxed about giving personal information online, with 13% including their mobile number on their profile compared with 7% of women. Some 9% of men also posted their address compared to 4% of women.
"This reaction could result in a complete stranger potentially being able to learn about a person's interests, location and movements in and out of their home," said Legal & General." - Reuters
So it may be time for a friend cull, or maybe just talk about the holiday when you get back. It might not be real time, but it sure beats filling out insurance paperwork.
Jason