Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Identity Theft Made Easy on Limewire

Are you using Limewire or Ares or any of these file sharing networks?

Did you just click on "Yes" when it asked if you wanted to share everything?

Do you have a file on your hard drive with account numbers, school applications with your social security number, or a list of user names and passwords?

Ahem. That's not good.

David Csuha, a friend and one of the CIS department's part-time faculty, has an excellent "Security Sense" blog up, and he recently did a screen capture of what he found with no real effort on Limewire. It's great to see, at least, it's not only Americans that are lax about security - notice the address on the first file that is opened. If David can do this with the best intentions in mind, what can someone who wants to steal identities do?

(Answer: A LOT)

Oh, and this isn't hacking. This is the same thing as someone leaving a copy of your social security card on the copier for anyone to take. This is another example (like the Sarah Palin email situation) of how sometimes, no hacking tools are required to steal the most valuable thing you have - your identity and reputation.

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