Posts Tagged ‘mcafee’
Sometimes the Best Security is Common Sense
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
This past weekend I spent a lot of time online researching software. Sounds pretty uneventful (even a bit nerdy). But unfortunately, I was doing the research after I purchased it and attempted to load it on my computer. At that point McAfee warned me that many users have indicated that the software (that I paid $70 for) was malware/spyware. Then and only then did I have the bright idea to research the service. Wouldn’t you know it, I just paid $70 to infect my home computer. I’m not stupid (not always), so why did I do this? Because a friend recommended the software — and he seemed savvy, so I blindly bought without researching the service or the company.
A recent posting by PC World shows that I’m not alone. Routinely consumers share sensitive personal information on social media sites, in blog posts and responding to phishing scams. In fact almost 40% of surveyed users indicated that they have posted their full birth dates (including year) on a social media site. At the same time I bet most of these people shred their bills and sensitive mail. Why even bother…you’re basically emailing fraudsters the keys to your house when you provide personal identifying information online. In fact, that’s happened too, where people have been robbed by FaceBook “friends” after indicating that they are going on vacation.
Without revealing any sensitive information about yourself, please share any unintentional disclosures you have made online.
