Monthly Archives: November 2012
Facebook Identification Has The Time Come?
A recent report by Heather Kelly of CNN on August 3 2012, reveals that a staggering 83 Million Facebook accounts are fakes and dupes. Upon analyzing the magnitude of the amount of ‘fake’ Facebook accounts a range of reasons come to mind as to why a fake account may be created:
- Fraudulent Activity?
- Surreptitious Activity?
- Voyeurism?
- Employers Reviewing Applicants Activity?
- Employers Monitoring Employees Activity?
- Children Defying Parents Facebook Controls Or Bans?
- Terrorism?
- Espionage?
- Corporate Espionage?
- Harmless Fun?
- Stalking?
Overall, fake Facebook accounts not only pose a threat to ones personal safety they are posing a threat to national security, whereby some form of credibility is attached to persons who appear in a social circles therefore making it easier for the person to infiltrate social groups, friends, social clubs, employment pages and the like.
Whilst the fake Facebook account holder may not make direct contact with individuals once they are ‘accepted as ‘friends’ or are a ‘Fan’ of a particular page, they do however have a fair deal of access to persons or groups timelines and all the posts shared within the group may be infiltrated.
The aforementioned list of possible motives of the fake Facebook holder is by no means exhaustive and clearly identifies how the time has come for Facebook to be socially responsible and introduce a policy that is commonly known amongst US financial institutions as ‘Know Your Customer‘ (Referred to in Australia as a 100 Point Check). Under Know Your Customer legislation financial institutions must verify a persons identity with sufficient identification and or face severe financial and criminal sanctions.
All form of Social Media account verification will undoubtedly make the internet a safer place for all and whilst it will not eliminate anti social behaviour like bullying and stalking, it will make it easier for the relevant authorities to possibly identify who may be responsible for such activity.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/tech/social-media/facebook-fake-accounts/index.html
facebook (Photo credit: sitmonkeysupreme)
How Dangerous Can Third-Party Access To Facebook Be?
Image via CrunchBase
A recent article in the New York Times by Nick Bilton, ‘Girls Around Me: An App Takes Creepy to a New Level’ raises some important questions of whether a person granting access to third-party Apps to their Facebook, Twitter, Four Square etc are really aware what in fact they are granting access too.
We have all experienced it, you see an App on Facebook where usually you are invited by a friend to join and before you know it you have clicked on it and up pops a notice about access to your Facebook account.
Do You Really Read What Access Is Being Sought?
Once you have read Nick Bilton’s article below, ask yourself these questions.
- Are we desensitized to understanding the ramifications for granting access to third-party Apps?
- Do we trust the App just because our friends have sent it to us?
- Do our children really understand what access to their Facebook account may show?
Whilst the App has since been removed it is a timely reminder to understand what you are granting access to when you opt in for such Apps via social media.
Most importantly share this information with your children and maybe suggest they check with you before they grant third-part Apps access.
Sharing Beyond Belief
The Truth About Teen Sexting
A recent set of statistics from Uknowkids.com that highlights that teen‘sexting’ is becoming prevalent among our children.
Children & Facebook As Told By Parents
An interesting ‘Infographic’ containing the results of a survey of 240 US parents of children under the age of 17 who use Facebook.
Cyber Guardians Online Smartphone/Tablet App
Cyber Guardians Online want to ensure that our stakeholders, clients and partner agencies have access to our range of services at their fingertips and to make sure this we are in the process of creating a Smartphone/Tablet App that is downloadable to your digital device in a matter of seconds.
We believe that by having this App available our services are accessible to all and most importantly shared among colleagues and friends who need some advice from the Cyber Guardians Online team.
The App will also list our upcoming ‘Speaking Engagements’, ‘Seminars‘ and ‘Training’ events that are taking place in 2013.
Overall the App will be a valuable resource to have on your digital device that will allow you access to us 24/7.
Cyber Guardians Online at your fingertips.
Bradley W. Deacon
