‘Must Read’ Articles

Facebook safety has a direct correlation to your business’s bottom line.

Facebook, and social networking sites in general, are in an awkward stage between infancy and adulthood – mature in some ways, helpless in others. On the darker side of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, scammers and identity thieves are drooling at the sight of this unchecked data playground. In contrast, most social networkers are addicted to all of the friendships they are creating and renewing.

There is no denying that Facebook and other social networking sites have a very luring appeal.  You can sit in the comfort of your own home and suddenly have a thriving social life.  You can look up old friends, make new ones, build business relationships and create a profile for yourself that highlights only your talents and adventures while conveniently leaving out all your flaws and troubles.  It is easy to see why Facebook has acquired over 200 million users worldwide in just over five years. Which is why Facebook safety is still so immature: Facebook’s interface and functionality has grown faster than security can keep up.

Unfortunately, most people dive head first into this world of social connectedness without thinking through the ramifications of all the personal information that is now traveling at warp speed through cyberspace.  It’s like being served a delicious new drink at a party, one that you can’t possibly resist because it is so fun and tempting and EVERYONE is having one.  The downside? Nobody is thinking about the information hangover that comes from over-indulgence: what you put on the Internet STAYS on the internet, forever. And sometimes it shows up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, in the hands of a prospective employer or your boss’s inbox. All of the personal information that is being posted on profiles — names, birth dates, kids’ names, photographs, pet’s names (and other password reminders), addresses, opinions on your company, your friends and your enemies — all of it serves as a one-stop shop for identity thieves.  It’s all right there in one neat little package and all a scammer has to do to access it is become your “friend”.

Follow these Five Facebook Safety Tips and save yourself the trouble…

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo on Traveling Safety.

Traveling Safety has become a study of its own ever since the advent of identity theft. Your biggest concern may no longer be physical in nature (pickpockets, hotel theft, muggings); the value of the personal identity you carry as you travel is worth far more than the cash in your wallet.

We all love to plan the vacation of our dreams. I can almost taste the pasta Bolognese as I read about that out-of-the way trattoria half way down the ancient narrow vicolo (blind alley) in Tuscany. But there’s one area we often overlook that can turn that long-anticipated dinner into a nightmare – the theft of our most-valuable asset, our identity. Let’s fast forward – we’ve savored the last bite of pasta and drained our pitcher of the vino rosso locale before presenting our credit card.   Our friendly waiter looks concerned as he walks back to our table to tell us that our credit card has been declined. It doesn’t take us long to discover a thief has maxed out our credit and there is nothing left to pay for our dream. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a backup plan and pay by cash or another credit card. If we are less lucky, the thief has cashed out our bank account as well, has stolen our passport numbers to set up new accounts, or has gained access to a laptop computer full of sensitive personal and workplace data. What were we thinking (or not thinking) by neglecting traveling safety?

If I’ve learned one thing as an identity theft expert these past few years, it’s this: As bloggers with something to gain (monetarily) from our daily posts, we do everything we can to veil our advertisements deep within the text. Nearly every blog post has some financial gain tied to it: Google AdWords down the right side of the column, gentle product sales, magazine subscriptions, you name it.

That’s the trade-off: bloggers give you content and in return, you agree to watch our commercials. With a few exceptions (truly altruistic and non-commercial blogs, which do exist), anytime someone tells you that they gain nothing financially from their blog, tell them HOGWASH! They are simply hiding behind their content. When you get something of value, you are paying with something of value. When you read the Wall Street Journal, you agree to at least browse their advertising (however passively). When you read my blog about identity theft prevention, you learn that I speak to corporations and organizations around the world about data breach and identity theft.

So I’m not going to even try and conceal the commercial nature of this post: the very hilarious and very famous Larry Winget endorsed me as a speaker. I tell you for one reason: to get you to hire me as an identity theft expert and identity theft speaker, and to hire Business Humorist Larry Winget. Period. Let us expose your audience to messages of financial responsibility and financial privacy before they bring their poor habits into your organization.

Are you as protective of your kids as I am of mine?

My wife and two highly-spirited daughters are more than just the center of my universe – they are the compass by which I set my course in every aspect of life. If something is not good for the family, then it isn’t good for me. And that means that I want to do everything in my power to keep them safe.

You and I are called on to protect our children from many things, starting in the womb. Even before they are born, we practice good preventative care. We take specially designed pre-natal exercise classes, coax ourselves to eat right for their benefit, learn CPR and Love and Logic and screen regularly for signs of trouble. Once they are born, we provide the best nourishment, the finest medical care, ample playtime, rest and an infinite flow of unconditional love. You get the point… we do everything in our power to prevent complications and to give them the best chance to grow up healthy, happy and in harmony with the world around them. That is our responsibility, our purpose and our joy.

But how often do you check their credit report? Their WHAT?! I can feel the surprise in your blank stare. I can hear your questions:

Like a wounded, cornered Doberman, I was irrational and reactive.

My blog was down, non-existent. When you earn your keep by communicating ideas, like I do as a professional speaker, any threat to the distribution of those ideas raises the peach fuzz on the back of your neck. After days of being unable to reach my webmaster by office phone, cell phone, SMS text, instant message or email, I dialed up the pressure on him to respond. I turned to the powerful and influential world of social media…

I tweeted him. Publicly.

@johnswebguy Where in the name of Google Earth are you? Why won’t you contact me? [poetic license applied to save face]

140 characters that delivered the impact of a rabid canine. Yes, there was obvious anger in my words, but they were transformed into a venomous rant in the hands of others. Those reading it from the outside could feel the rage I felt at having been cornered without a backup plan. Unfortunately, in my anger, I didn’t make it a direct tweet (a private communication that only the recipient could see), so anyone following these hyper-succinct mini-blogs could view my dirty laundry and fill in the blanks with any back-story they liked. And fill in they did.

Technology is not the root cause of identity theft, data breach or cyber crime.

We are.

Too often, technology is our scapegoat, providing a convenient excuse to sit apathetically in our corner offices, unwilling to put our money where our profits are. Unwilling, in this case, to even gaze over at the enormous profit-sucking sound that is mass data theft. The deeper cause of this crisis festers in the boardrooms of corporate America. Like an overflowing river, poor privacy leadership flows inexorably downhill from the CEO, until at last, it undermines the very banks that contain it.

The identity theft and data breach bottom line?

Military personnel have unique and pressing reasons to pay extra attention to protecting their private information, as well as the private data of their loved ones, from identity theft. For example:

• Historically, the armed forces have used pieces of identity (including Social Security Numbers) to openly identify personal items, including: dog tags, military IDs, commission papers, pay checks and duffel bags. While this practice is being fazed out, it still increases the risk of identity theft among military personnel.
• If a member of the military has their identity stolen while deployed (especially overseas), it is exceptionally difficult to recover from the crime in a timely and effective manner. Can you imagine trying to repair your credit rating from the streets of Iraq or prove your innocence to a collection agency while crouched in the bunkers of Afghanistan? To add insult to injury, returning from a tour to find that your credit has been destroyed and that you are wanted for crimes you didn’t commit can be overwhelming.
• Our airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines can be called to duty in an instant. If financially unprepared, this leaves their families vulnerable to attack. It is imperative that we proactively protect not only ourselves, but our loved ones as well.
• Protecting the privacy of our military is a national security concern. In the age of cyber-attacks and digital warfare, we cannot leave our fighting and peace-keeping personnel open to attack.

Because of these additional risks, it is imperative for our military personnel to implement the steps below.

Think about it…slowly, over time, we have given away our privacy. Many times we don’t even realize we are giving it away. We commonly trade our personal information for access to website content (free songs, email), the chance to win a contest (iPods, vacations) or a one-time 10% discount at a clothing retailer. I call this slow and unnecessary leakage of our personal information identity creep. Our information is requested in a subtle way, and because the immediate benefits seem substantial and often feel harmless, we overlook the downside—that we are gradually broadcasting our identity to those who shouldn’t have it.

One source at a time, we must reverse our bad habits and guard information rather than give it out. Understandably, we cannot entirely give up sharing our information. But we must determine what to share and with whom. We must begin to accumulate our privacy over time. This incremental approach keeps prevention from being an overwhelming task and reminds you to consider the risk anytime identity is involved.

Here are Eight Steps to Start the Process: