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May052010

Consumer Reports Panel on Social Network Insecurity

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 9:41AM |

Yesterday, Consumer Reports convened a panel, "Social Insecurity: Risky Consumer Behavior during the Era of Social Networks," that raised some disconcerting realities about social networking. The fodder for the panel - which featured reps from the Federal Trade Commission, Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as Mashable’s Adam Ostrow –stemmed largely from the newly-published 2010 Consumer Reports State of the Net survey.

What we found most unsettling was the sheer number of people impacted by online threats. For example, an estimated 5.4 million online consumers had submitted personal information to phishing scammers during the past two years and a projected 1.7 million online households faced online identity theft.

Unfortunately, many of these victims probably unwittingly engaged in some risky online behavior. And what’s considered chancy online is far more innocuous than people realize. For example, publicly displaying your full birth date on the site, your address, or other private information makes it easier for cybercriminals to engineer attacks against you. But this doesn’t have to be the case. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to share your birthday on Facebook or post family photos – just make sure your AntiVirus protection and privacy settings are up-to-date.

While the statistics surrounding net security are gripping, they are still just numbers – until they impact us personally. And what online security is ultimately about is keeping our family and friends safe online. How are you making this happen?

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