News for the Week of October 14, 2007
An important story for parents and teens this week reveals that one in three social networkers puts themselves at risk for identify fraud...
Fraud potential on social Web
Nearly one in three (31%) social networkers on sites such as Facebook risk becoming victims of identity fraud because they are negligent with personal details, making them a prime target for phishing and other ID fraud, reports the Motley Fool. What happens is that phishers (online cons) send emails using information they harvest from sites of all kinds (not just social-networking ones). The emails look like they're from a person's bank, Paypal, credit card company, or even a porn provider, and they try to trick victims into clicking to a Web site that can upload malicious code to your computer or further trick you into giving personal info like social security or credit card numbers. The Fool was citing research by Equifax, which also found that, "of the 739 people polled (a relatively small survey, but it still has some significant figures), 87% published their full names and 38% their dates of birth, with more than a quarter offering their education and work details."
Fraud-avoidance ideas
Three key takeaways would make for great family discussion: Everybody needs to 1) select the right privacy and safety features for their particular needs (e.g., only friends can view one's full profile); 2) be really careful about the links they click on in other social networkers' profiles (they could link to malicious sites); and 3) everybody needs to check out the providers of the widgets and other code they paste into their profiles (is the source legit or potentially malicious?).
See also network-security news site DarkReading.com's comparison of potential personal and network vulnerabilities in MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
In other news...
- Facebook's safety agreement. In a settlement it has reached with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Facebook will now be replying to "the most serious complaints" by users about porn and unwelcome contacts within 24 hours, its chief security officer Chris Kelly told CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid in an audio interview. In its coverage, the Associated Press says Facebook also agreed to "report to the complainant within 72 hours on how it will respond" to the complaint. In addition, Facebook will hire an outside company approved by the attorney general's office to monitor its level of response to complaints and has updated its safety information pages focusing especially on info for parents.
- This year's most wished-for gift. Computers top Americans' holiday wish lists this year, the Associated Press reports, citing the annual Consumer Electronics Association survey. "The machines that feed us infinite and instant information, store our digital memories, give us hours of fun with games, videos or music — and help us do our taxes — outrank peace, happiness and clothes this year as the most wished-for gifts." In the "specific gizmos" category, portable music players like the iPod top the list for the third time in a row.
- Keeping kids' phone bills down. "Australia has one of the highest rates of mobile phone ownership in the developed world among children," the Sydney Morning Herald reports, so its Communications and Media Authority issued some tips to help keep kids' cellphone costs under control. Developed with the help of London-based Childnet International, suggestions include considering pre-paid phone services with built-in limits, using providers that track use between billing periods, using services that block extras like Internet access. The paper cites one expert as saying this can be a good opportunity for early family discussions about budgeting time and money. (Children as young as five have mobiles in Australia.) For more suggestions, see "Ask these questions first" at the bottom of the Morning Herald article.
- International social-networking numbers. More than half (56%) of Europe's online population is social networking, and 78% of Britain's is, TechnologyNewsDaily reports, citing comScore figures. So Europe has 127.3 million social networkers and the UK 24.9 million. In addition to higher uptake, Britain's usage was heavier "in terms of hours spent, pages viewed, and the number of visits per month. The average visitor to social networking sites in the UK spent 5.8 hours per month on those sites in August and made 23.3 visits. This was a significantly heavier usage level than in France, which averaged 2 hours per month and 16.8 visits per visitor, or Germany, with 3.1 hours per month and 13.8 visits per visitor." Then again, compare Briton's 5.8 hours to Brazilians' 11.7 hours and Canadians' 6.5 hours, as reported by The Telegraph. It adds that the UK's top three sites are Bebo, MySpace, and Facebook, in that order.
