Protecting your online identity
How well do you know the people around you? Do you trust certain persons well enough to give them your usernames and passwords? We’re always warned not to give away sensitive online information, but for various reasons, I know a lot of people share their passwords, most commonly with their significant others.
Recently, I read about a UK musician who had her boyfriend create a website and social network profiles for her. When they broke up, the guy got his revenge by changing the her passwords and hijacking her online identity. He insulted her friends and co-workers under her name, which led to very negative consequences. In the end, she had to migrate all the way to Australia to make a fresh start.
I personally found out how dangerous social media can be when, a few years back, I received a private message on my profile from someone I didn’t know. He alleged that one of my friends is gay and told some damaging stories about him. It seems this message was sent to all of the people on his profile’s Friends List. I’m against homophobia so it didn’t really matter to me if the message was true or not, but I imagine it must have been traumatic for my friend to be subjected to that.
Increasingly, we record every aspect of our lives online, via blog entries, pictures, our social graph, and other information. Without adequate security measures, we’re exposing ourselves to danger. The Internet is a great tool, but be very careful out there.
Share your thoughts!!!