Social networks are very popular today, and just about everyone has an account on Twitter and Facebook. People post quite a bit of personal information on those sites, and this means that the social networking sites are burgeoning with information that criminals will find quite tasty. If you don’t feel as though this is a problem, or if it is something that you haven’t thought about much, you might be in for a surprise.
Hackers can access your accounts to find out personal information about you. Even if they don’t hack into your account, many people have quite a bit of personal information located across these sites. The cybercriminals can access information such as your maiden name, your birth date, favorite television shows, and more. If you use this information in your passwords, then a savvy hacker might be able to guess your password.
Hackers certainly aren’t the only threat that you will find on the social networks though. You will find that there are also stalkers and other criminals that can take the information that you have on your social networks and use them to their advantage.
People who ‘check in’ using apps that provide your location will give stalkers a live update of where you are, whom you are with, and when you are there. This should be frightening for anyone, especially those who have children. If you have photos online of you and your family, it provides predators with information about you, your family, and the items that you have in your home. People who have never even been to your house will have information on the layout of your home through the photos too.
This also lets other criminals that might want to break into your home easy access since they will know that you are away, and they will know what goodies you have at home. Always think before you post information on a social network. You can be sure the criminals are watching.
