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With the meteoric rise in cyber-bullying, parents are desperate to find a way to shield their children. Unfortunately, most parents are far behind their child’s proficiency with technology. Many don’t text, aren’t on Facebook, and are oblivious to the many ways in which kids can taunt each other with technological ease. Although children may be quick and nimble with technology, they lack the maturity to understand its consequences.
A recent article in the New York Times on Digital Bullying (read the MSN version here) addressed these very issues and gave true and heart-wrenching accounts of how parents were left helpless at the hands of their children’s online bullies. “I’m not seeing signs that parents are getting more savvy with technology,” said Russell A. Sabella, former president of the American School Counselor Association. “They’re not taking the time and effort to educate themselves, and as a result, they’ve made it another responsibility for schools.”
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Bully, Bullying, Cyber, Cyber Bully, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Crime, Cyberbully, Cyberbullying, Digital, Facebook, Facebook Safety, identity theft expert, John Sileo, Online Bullying, online privacy, Online Safety, social networking safety, Social Networking Speaker, Teen Safety
Don’t let a Cyber Scrooge Spoil Your Holidays!
Although most shoppers gear up and focus on Black Friday, Cyber Monday offers tons of hot deals to online shoppers. It began in 2005 and quickly became one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. On average, online shopping increases by 16% (worth more than $760 million dollars) on this one day alone!
Shoppers find the appeal in avoiding parking lots at malls, bustling stores and frantic holiday crowds. While it is very convenient, you can also be putting yourself at greater risk for identity theft and credit card fraud if you are not careful. In any situation there are steps you can take to protect yourself and make it easier to detect fraud if you become a victim. If you protect yourself, I feel that you are safer shopping online than in person (where about 15% of identity theft takes place).
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Cyber Crime, Cyber Monday, Cyber Theft, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, identity theft speakers, John Sileo, Online Safety, Online Shopping, Online Shopping Safety
According to a recent survey by the Internet Security Firm AVG, more than 8 out of 10 babies worldwide under the age of 2 have some sort of online presence. A staggering 92% of American babies have an online presence compared to 73% of babies in Western Europe. The study covered 2,200 mothers in the UK and eight other industrialized countries. With new technology and social media outlets such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, mothers and fathers are eager to post photos and write about their children – even before the baby is born.
When these children become adults, it will be literally impossible for them to separate from their digital past. I can just see the photos and stories posted when they begin to run for office, try to find a job or meet a partner. Digital memory lasts forever, and it is very unforgiving. Those of us older than about 35 have had a chance to put our bad decisions behind us. Children born today will have every aspect of their life recorded, uploaded, backed up, forwarded and publicized completely without their consent.
Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Babies Online, children, Facebook, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Statistics, John Sileo, Online Behaviors, Online Safety, Online Statistics, Social Networking Speaker, Statistics
By Guest Blogger, Mike Spinney, Senior Privacy Analyst, Ponemon Institute
When site reliability engineer David Barksdale was fired from his job at Google for allegedly using his position to cyberstalk teens with Google Talk accounts, it sent a shiver across the Internet. The idea that a creepy geek working for one of the world’s biggest technology companies could use his combination of technical acumen and privileged access to spy on young citizens seemed to raise the worst kind of privacy fears. More than learning information carelessly or ignorantly posted online, Barksdale’s supposed deeds evoked darker images, the sort from which Chris Hansen has made a comfortable living capturing on video. As part of his job, Barksdale had the keys to the digital kingdom and could pry into the profiles and accounts of individuals who trusted Google and used the company’s services to communicate with others in what they believed to be security and confidentiality.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Identity Theft Prevention, Online Safety, Ponemon, Privacy, Professionals, Spinney
When you are ‘friends’ with people on Facebook that you are not actually friends with, how do you know whether they have good intentions?
A recent segment on CNN discusses the risks that you may be taking while updating your Facebook status. You don’t know who is looking at your private information because it’s truly not private – it’s public. Keri McMullen found this out the hard way after she posted a simple status message that she was going to see a band with her fiancé. It only took the burglars calling the venue to find out what time the show was to let them know when they could break into her home. The burglars showed up 35 minutes after the McMullens left for the concert.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Burglary, CNN, facbook, Facebook, Facebook Safety, John Sileo, Online Safety, Robbery, Social Netowrking, Social Networking Expert
According to a recent Yahoo! article, Facebook has created a new “Panic Button” for London users to help protect children on the social networking site. This new function gives the youngsters the ability to easily report a problem or suspicious activity to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and Facebook.
The Panic Button will automatically appear on the homepage of users between the ages of 13 and 18 years old. Recently Facebook has been scrutinized because of their relaxed privacy controls and lack of protection for all users, including children. This marks another effort by Facebook to attempt to calm users concerns and team up with other organizations to offer protection to younger participants. In the US, Facebook is teaming up with the Parent Teacher Association to help keep children informed and safe while using the website.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: children online, facbook, Facebook, facebook privacy, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Online Safety, Yahoo!
The new movie on Facebook entitled “The Social Network” released its first teaser trailer. The film, better recognized as “The Facebook Movie,” follows the early days of the world’s most powerful social networking site. It follows Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, from the creation of the website through the destruction of a friendship with his co-founders. In the process, it exposes the history behind the information sharing site that Facebook users will wish they knew sooner.
Facebook has had overwhelming success and gained huge momentum since they began in a Harvard dorm room in 2005. Their ability to get you and I to share personal information that we normally wouldn’t has made privacy a huge concern with the site. Zukerberg has faced scrutiny recently with the privacy changes that make more of your information available to businesses on Facebook that purchase your data in order to sell to you in a more targeted way.
Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: facbook, Facebook, Facebook Movie, Facebook Safety, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Online Safety, online victims, parents help, Social Networking Expert, The Facebook Movie, The Social Network
As a parent you are often worried about what your kids are being exposed to on the Internet. Apparently so are Facebook and the PTA. They have teamed up to teach parents and children about responsible Internet use. They plan to cover cyber-bullying, internet safety and security and “citizenship online,” according to a news release.
“Nothing is more important to us than the well-being of the people, especially the many teenagers, who use Facebook,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.
Facebook is the number one social media site with over 500 million users and a minimum age requirement of 13. Even that requirement can be easily fudged because Facebook has no way of verifying a user’s age besides asking for their birth date when they register. Parents are having trouble deciding whether to let their children join Facebook prematurely and what they should be cautious of if they do so.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: "Identity Theft, child safety, children, facbook, Facebook, facebook privacy, Facebook Safety, Financial Speaker, identity theft expert, Information Privacy, John Sileo, kids, online privacy, Online Safety, parents, parents help, Privacy, social networking, Social Networking Speaker, Speaker, surfing, teens
A New Study from the Ponemon Institute Reveals How Online Safety Behavior Leaves Consumers Vulnerable to Identity Theft.
Although more than 80% of study respondents expressed concern about their security while using social media, more than half of these same individuals admitted they do not take any steps to actively protect themselves. This data clearly demonstrates that while people may acknowledge that security is important, many do nothing to protect their information online.
Other key findings from the survey include the following:
- Approximately 65% of users do not set high privacy or security settings in their social media sites.
- More than 90% of users do not review a given Website’s privacy policy before engaging in use.
- Approximately 40% of all respondents share their physical home address through social media applications.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Safety, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Online Safety, online victims, Online/Social Media Privacy, parents help, Social Networking Expert
