How Can They Hack You? Let Me Count the Ways. . . - Nikki Lorenzini

Recently, a researcher was able to pull up information for 170 million Facebook users. Ron Bowes, who compiled the information, was quoted as saying: “I realized that this is a scary privacy issue, I can find the name of pretty much every person on Facebook.” He was able to pull the names and Web addresses of people’s profiles that were not listed as “private.” From what I have read, people are pretty upset, seeming that their privacy is now being invaded.

My opinion: Your privacy is fine! Yes, people have a right to feel threatened when they think their personal space has been invaded. When it comes to sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., though, people willingly put their lives out there. I always saw these sites as a place to reconnect with people from high school/grade school, post pictures for family I cannot see regularly, write silly status updates, etc. However, I choose to play it smart when it comes to the Internet. I keep the personal information I post limited. I only have my email address and the city I live. In fact, I think I actually have my email on private as well.  I refuse to put any of my phone numbers or my address. I do not vent about work or other people on my Facebook. If I do not want my mom to see or read it, it’s not going up. It’s not worth risking my job or reputation or privacy to put things that might be questionable or cause for fears about getting into the wrong hands.

Sure, Bowes was able to get people’s names and pictures. However, we store so much more information out there that we should actually fear people getting a hold of. How many of us do online banking? How many of do online shopping? How easy is it to whip out a credit card and pay for something on EBay or Amazon and keep the card number stored? I am sure people are able to hack into those companies’ systems. I know people’s Facebook and MySpace accounts have been hacked, and I’ve heard stories of credit card numbers being stolen from stores.

So how easy do you think it would be for the two groups to join forces and hack into one of those systems? If that happens, I believe there is a legitimate reason to fear for Internet privacy. Until then, please be smart when you are putting your life on the Internet line.