The seemingly frivolous information that we tend to share online can actually be weaponized against us. Facebook is the biggest culprit for getting you to reveal personal information about yourself and your loved ones. The ‘About’ section on your profile alone contains your birthday, age, gender, hometown, current location, occupation and workplace, where you went to school, and even lists your family members’ profiles. That’s a lot of sensitive information in one place, making your profile a goldmine for bad actors.
Leaving your personal details public makes you an easy target for social engineering scams and hacking. Even if your profile is set to private, you never know who could see your information, and capture or share it in some way. Let’s take a look at some of the pieces of info that put you and your loved ones at risk.
Mother’s Maiden Name
When you set your password for email and financial accounts, you’re typically asked a series of security questions. The answers to those questions help you retrieve forgotten passwords. Your mother’s maiden name is a common security question, which is all too easy for hackers to discover by searching social media profiles. It doesn’t matter how difficult-to-crack your password is if your security questions are accessible, and identity thieves don’t need a lot of information to make an impact. If you tend to use the same passwords for every account, they can access multiple accounts with the same credentials. Security experts advise using a combination of numbers and special characters, or simply lie—there’s no real reason you actually have to tell your bank your mother’s maiden name.
Pet’s Name
Yes, even your good boy’s name can be weaponized against you. Pet names are another common answer for password security access. Scammers could take one glance at your social media page and zoom in on your pet’s name tag, revealing your password or security answer.
Birthday
Who doesn’t love receiving well-wishes on their birthday? Don’t feel too special, though—your friends only remember because it’s probably listed on your Facebook. But did you know someone can guess your social security number using only your birth date and hometown? And once someone has your social security number, they essentially become you. They may be able to open credit cards, bank accounts, make purchases, take out loans, even commit crimes—all in your name.
School
Your child worked really hard to get into the college of their dreams. Once they get that acceptance letter in the mail, your first instinct might be to take a picture and post it online to celebrate. However, it’s better to keep where your child goes to school confidential. Bad actors can use that information in social engineering scams and phishing attacks. They may write a compelling email pretending to be a teacher, student, or academic official, and persuade you to provide more personal information or send money to them. There is also a physical risk present, such as stalking, harassment, or kidnapping.
If you think you may have revealed any sensitive information, it’s not the end of the world. Hush keeps you and your family safe from bad actors by finding, flagging, and eliminating items in your digital footprint that put you at risk.
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