Social Engineering: Interests and Hobbies

One thing leads to another. Nowhere is this more true than the data you leave open to everyone on the interest.

Hobbies leave a trail

Do you have a Hobbiy? Does your hobbiy mean that you do a lot of buying or selling on eBay? A quick look through a person's profile on an auction site can reveal a lot about you and your interests. Do you have a lot of money to spend?

Take one small example: you sell one dingy and buy another . Both auctions display the sail number. A quick search through race results and someone knows where you may live. If you are an officer of a sailing club, your name and phone number may be published on the club's website. It is so easy for someone to phone and ask you to confirm your house number and post code: now they have your full address.

Forums and User Names

Most people are creatures of habit. Once you have one nickname for a forum it is probable that you will use the same nickname on the next forum. A quick search on your nickname in search engines, a quick read of your posts. Who are you?

What information do you give on forums? Any sensitive personal data? - religious beliefs, sexual preferences, illnesses, holiday plans. Whatever personal information you give, that data will stay on the internet for years and years. A diary that never gets burnt.

And you thought that the only data you needed to worry about was whether the teenager your teenager is chatting to on a forum really is a teenage.
 

To help you check your 'internet awareness' of viruses and malware, try these two online tests. Test yourself and learn where you and your children can improve your security. (The quiz may not work correctly in some browsers.)

For your younger children's Internet Safety quiz, click on
http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/landingpages/quiz_kids.asp

and for the Inernet safety quiz for teenagers
http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/landingpages/quiz_teen.asp?cid=40968

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