Cybersecurity dos and don'ts
Most Internet users have heard the recommendations that they need to use a password not related to their name, address or pet's name while including symbols, numbers and random capital letters. The reality is the usernames they have created for email accounts, social media and other online services could be delivering all their private details into the hands of cyber criminals – no password needed.
When you include a first name and the numbers from your street address in a username, cyber criminals can harvest those details to search for other private information that you may not know is publicly available on the Internet.
Cyber criminals use a technique called Doxing, combing the web for snippets of personal information to build a full profile to execute crimes like identity theft, scams or other targeted attacks. People do not realize that if they post a comment on a public page with a username like CrazyShaunOrlando those two pieces of information are enough detail for a criminal to exploit. Within minutes they can find your home address, what you paid for your home, your high school, your kids' school, the list goes on.
Avoid the following five common mistakes when creating a username.
1. Recycling one username across accounts – Avoid using the same username to log into different online accounts. This just makes it easier for criminals to search for and find details about your life.
2. Including all or part of your name – Business professionals and students often use a variation of their full name as an email address, on social media and other online forums, making it easier for both social-media friends and for criminals to follow or friend them.
3. Revealing details about your location – Incorporating the city you reside in now or where you were born into your username is never a good idea. Criminals can use this information to narrow their search for your personal details, and it's also a common password security question.
4. Using your birthday or other meaningful numbers – While a string of four to eight numbers might seem random, a criminal will be able to use a birthday or street address to verify if the information they are accumulating is all for the same person.
5. Sharing a username with an email address – Linking a username with an email address can simplify a criminal's search for your personal information. Using trial and error, a criminal can add common email providers to your username, run a search and pull up your social media accounts and any other sites where you have used that email address to create a profile. Some email providers including Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo allow users to alter their email address into infinite number of disposable addresses. For example if your email address is shauntips@gmail.com and you want to sign up for a new deal website, you can alter your email address just for that site by adding an identifier to it such as shauntips+FreeRunningStuff@gmail.com. This keeps your actual email address private and can help stop criminals from being able to track your online history simply by searching for one of your email addresses.
Shaun Murphy is one of the nation's leading security and privacy experts. He is the founder and CEO of Private Giant and the creator of Sndr. For more information, visit sndr.com or follow @PrivateShaun.
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