High tech harassment in social media

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October 9th, 2009 - Posted by Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger

Technology keeps providing new opportunities for harassment: social media identity theft, cell phone abuse, online bullying, the list goes on.

Over a year ago, I appeared on The Tyra Show to discuss high tech harassment. I met a family from Washington, who found that several of their phones had been hacked and were being used to spy on and harass them. The hacker was able to turn a compromised phone on and off, use the phone's camera to take pictures, and use the speakerphone to record their private conversations. Every time they rerun the episode, I get emails from more victims.

In an even more shocking instance of high tech harassment, a hacker took over a woman's Facebook account while she was on a camping trip, with no Internet and no cell phone service. The hacker impersonated this woman, but instead of attempting to scam her family and friends out of cash, he used her Facebook profile to post suicidal messages, including, "My only friend is the handgun in the back of my closet," and, "I don't want a funeral or memorial, I want it to be like I never existed." After two and a half hours of Facebook drama, the victim happened to regain cell phone reception and discovered twenty voicemail messages begging her not to do "anything drastic." By the time her son was able to get in touch with her, there were police gathered outside her home, preparing to break down the door.

In this incident, the victim was the mother of a Navy Seal who died in Iraq. It's believed that she was targeted because of her charity work celebrating the lives of deceased military personnel.

But this can happen to anybody. To protect yourself, strengthen your passwords. Use a combination of upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers, and avoid easily guessed words that can be found in the dictionary, names of pets or children, or birth dates. Make sure that your computer has updated Internet security software. Don't access social networking websites from public computers that could contain spyware. Don't click on links in messages "friends" encouraging you to download a video or view pictures, as this is becoming a common ruse in social media. Avoid all the third party applications, which are risky and can be fronts for malicious software.

And invest in identity theft protection. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses hacked email on Fox & Friends.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlD8Nu9nmCc[/youtube]

Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com , an identity theft expert, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 companies and startups as an advisor on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. Siciliano's thoughts and advice on all these matters appear often in both the televised and print news media including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of security training as a member of the American Society of Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on High Alert; How to take control of your personal security and prevent fraud. He's also partnered with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness about the growing threat of identity theft and to provide tips on how you can protect yourself.