Sony PlayStation Network, Citigroup, Lockheed and several others have seen more than 100 million customer records breached, costing billions in recovery costs and reputation damage. If it can happen to the big boys, it can happen to you. If you don’t have Bond on your side fighting off the villains, take these steps to take to secure your business data:
Anthony Weiner is notorious for a gaffe made on Twitter, but will his online reputation recover?
I’m sure everyone remembers the infamous 2011 incident when Representative Weiner became something of a national punchline for lewd tweets that revealed his “private data,” so to speak.
Or do we remember?
At the time, Weiner’s indiscretions left him a laughingstock and a near-disgrace in one fell swoop. Now, as he ramps up a possible New York City mayoral campaign, he’s returned to the same social platform that almost cost him his political career. Is it possible that we will forget and forgive so soon?
A natural byproduct of our 140-character driven world is that everything is always old news. By the time the next tweet or Facebook post appears, we have forgotten the last one. Our online reputation, on the other hand, never disappears. And at some point, we will again value character in our public figures – making digital reputation a permanent, if often inaccurate,
Online reputation services have a special responsibility to keep clients safe. How can you protect yourself when the very company you rely on is breached?
Would you trust a site with your personal information after it suffered a breach? What if that site’s sole purpose is to protect your reputation?
The Millennial generation tends to have a lax approach to online privacy protection – and it might put all of our security in jeopardy.
Those in their teens, 20s and early 30s – the “Millennials” – have widely prompted discussions as they enter and redefine the modern workplace. Recent information gives us a more in-focus picture of the general operating philosophy of this age group when it comes to handing out personal information over the internet. It’s been found that a devil-may-care attitude is much too prevalent.
A survey from the University of South California’s Annenberg Center for the Digital Future revealed that more than half of the Millennials it questioned would willingly give their personal information to companies in exchange for some sort of coupon or incentive. And then a disconnect occurs because the same study interestingly showed that 70 percent of those same Millennials believed their personal data should be kept private.
The Associated Press’ primary Twitter account was hacked today, allegedly by a group called the Syrian Electronic Army. This is the same group that took responsibility for the 60 Minutes and 48 Hours account takeovers.
Once again, the Syrian Electronic Army has managed to take over the Twitter feed of a highly respected news agency, the Associated Press. As you can see in the screen shots above, the hackers used the hacked AP Twitter account to falsely report that there had been two explosions in the White House and that President Obama was injured. Note: Both reports are false.
Hijacking high-profile Twitter accounts and using them for nefarious purposes is nothing new. But causing the stock markets, oil and gold prices to plunge in response is a new, critically significant development.
Are we living in an age where 140 characters are so powerful that they can send the Dow Jones down by more than 100 points? Yes, we are.
Here’s a spooky thought: there’s a good chance your online reputation could outlive you on the web – and still be vulnerable to attacks.
Have you ever wondered what will happen to your digital information after you’re gone? It’s a morbid topic, but no less important than dividing up your estate or making plans for your life insurance. Even once you’re no longer posting or “liking” on networks like Facebook, it’s possible that your name will stay active, unless you take plans to deactivate it. And if you don’t, you leave it to the whims of whichever company controls your data – or hackers that manage to steal it.
Some systems already exist to help cope with this situation. Facebook lets you turn the page of a recently departed loved one into a memorial site. Google has recently announced a service currently called “Inactive Account Manager” to allow you to set up “retirement” plans for your profiles after they go a certain amount of time without being used. This is worth considering even if you have no plans of shuffling off this mortal coil any time soon, as it’s a way of keeping forgotten email addresses and other services from cluttering up your computer and impacting your online reputation.
Facebook identity thefts are nothing new. The social media site has been the vehicle for all sorts of fake links and bots in years past. But a new trick that could threaten your digital reputation is proving particularly insidious.
If you get a message to “Experience Facebook Black” sometime soon, you’d be advised to turn it down, unless you’re OK with your digital reputation being hijacked. This latest hack could spread malicious software without you or your Facebook friends even knowing until it’s too late.
The scam allegedly works by offering users the chance to change the color of the Facebook background to black – and then asks for users to respond to a series of questions by giving out information. Of course, the promised color conversion is a lie: play into the hands of this fraud and you’ll just wind up as a means of spreading it further, with your information used to make a dummy page to trick your connections.
Those interested in how to prevent identity theft can attend the InsightOne20 conference on March 16, where John Sileo will be presenting along with Seth Godin. Guests can register for the event on the InsightOne20 website.
The presentation, entitled “Spies, Hackers and Facebook Attackers: Bulletproofing Your Privacy & Profits in the Digital Age,” will contain information and instruction on how best to avoid the pitfalls of digital privacy and social media. The conference is hosted by City National Bank, and is considered a premiere event for small businesses. It will take place at the LA Convention Center.
Businesses of all sizes have many risks to consider when it comes to the stakes of modern commerce. Social media and even basic online browsing bring with them a host of dangers that concern your digital reputation. But the risk is especially palpable for startups and growing companies that may not yet have a strong security network in place. All data is valuable, and this presentation will seek to impart some wisdom about the best way to keep your information secure while promoting healthy online habits.
So far, 2013 has been the Year of the Hack, as the past few weeks have proven positively lousy with big-name security breaches.
Social networks, news outlets, and now…jeeps and fast food? That’s right, recent events have seen two prominent businesses get their Twitter accounts hacked, and worse. Not only did identity pirates shanghai the feeds (and therefore the reputations) of Burger King and Jeep, they used this illegal access to send embarrassing and scandalous messages to their followers.
Last Monday, @BurgerKing began tweeting that it had been sold to McDonalds, changing its image to a golden arches logo and posting ridiculous, wildly provocative comments about rappers and mad cow disease. The same thing happened to Jeep the next day, when its account claimed it had been sold to Cadillac and that its CEO had been fired for doing drugs.
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