Personal Data and Information Lost in the Computer Repair Shop

Have you ever experienced or heard about the story regarding some computer repair shops are illegally accessing personal data and information from customer’s hard drives. What could be the purpose – Identity Theft!

Recall back in the early 2008, there was big news about photo scandal in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. It was about the illegal distribution of intimate and private photographs of Hong Kong actor Edison Chen with various women, including some local famous actresses as well over the Internet. The scandal shook the local entertainment industry and received high profile media attention locally and around the world.

Your Own Secure and Private Social Network

A social network is a social structure made of people that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, and friendship, etc.

Online social networks are now one of the most advanced forms of communications. They are very widely diffused today. These social networks represent world’s largest body of personal data.

Social networking is becoming the preferred way to manage personal data. It is an area where members take an active interest in how their personal information is managed and displayed rather than being passive account-holders as in most identity management systems.

Internet Users: Be Aware of the Dangers of Social Networking and Community Sites

Lets’ face it, social networking is here to stay and for many of us, it is the second life.

According to a poll by TNS Canadian Facts, a Canadian marketing and social research firm, online teens and young adults are the heaviest users of social networking sites, with eighty three (83) percent of 13-17 year olds and seventy four (74) percent of 18-29 year olds having visited at least one such site. Sixty (60) percent in people in their 30s have visited at least one social networking site and forty five (45) percent of those in their 40s have done so.

Based on the Hitwise top twenty social networking websites research report (see below). Facebook ranks as top social networking site, which gain 38.89% visitors, follow by MySpace 23.85% and YouTube 13.68%:

Be Careful: They Are Phishing for Your Identity

Have you ever received an email that asked you to update your personal information from your Bank or Credit Card Company? You recognize the site visually in the email as the one that you’ve conducted business with in the past. So, you click on the convenient “take me there” link and proceed to the site.

Once you get to the website, it asks you to verify or update your password, credit card details, social security number, or even your bank account number etc. This is what is called Hacking via Social Engineering.

Unfortunately, you find out much later that the website you visited was bogus. It was created with the sole intent to steal your personal information. You were just “phished”, in the other words; you got caught into a phishing scam or phishing attack.

Identification vs Authentication

At GoSecure.com we are all about privacy and identity protection. We do not only authenticate, but we identify….what does that mean?

Most sites on the internet and places in your daily life ask for your authentication, an email address or username in combination with a password. As long as the combination is entered correctly, access is permitted to whoever entered it and was privy to this information.