50% of Americans Post Sensitive Details Online: Consumer Reports

As per the latest State of the Net survey conducted by Consumer Reports, a US magazine that publishes ratings and reviews of the products, the number of Internet US households surfing social networking sites has shot up in 2009, thereby increasing opportunities for cybercriminals. As noted by the magazine, social networks like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook are extensively used by 52% of the adults in America.

The magazine surveyed 2,000 American residents in January, and of these residents, 9% that they had confronted some sort of problems, like phishing scams, harassments or malware infections, due to their presence on these social networks, as per the news published by computerworld.com on May 4, 2010.

Moreover, cybercrime could cost heavily. As per the estimates by Consumer Reports, over the last two years, Americans have lost $4.5 Billion besides substituting 2.1 Million malware-affected PCs.

The users who are habitual of posting very personal details like their date of birth, names of their kids, home address, their photographs, and even the time they won't be at their homes, make themselves vulnerable to cybercrimes.

As per the survey, 42% of the users on Facebook mention their complete birth dates, 7% tell their residence address, 63% of them post their photographs, 16% tell their kids' names, thereby escalating the risk.

Jeff Fox, Technology Editor for Consumer Reports, commented that numerous people make use of social networks to share photos and personal information with their friends speedily and conveniently, as per the statement published by prnewswire.com on May 4, 2010. He added that serious risks are however involved in such activities, but the use of privacy controls that these websites offer could lessen the risk.

Consumer Reports offered some tips to social networkers to decrease the risk of getting victimized by cyber crooks.

First and foremost, avoid the use of weak passwords. A password must have a minimum of eight characters. Further, both symbols as well as numbers must be their in the middle of the chosen password. Secondly, posting contact number or address online is not a good idea. Last but not the least, outdated security software and poor user behavior also increases the risk of exploitation.

Related article: “Loopholes did not cause online banking thefts”: ICBC

» SPAMfighter News - 5/13/2010