CorpComms Magazine

With the recent growth of social networking, members are increasingly aware of how to keep personal information private. Yet many continue to place little or no restriction on who can track their online activity and view personal data on their profile, according to a recent study by Internet security company, Webroot.

The research shows that only 27 percent of users restrict who can find their profile through a public search engine, eight out of ten do not hide their recent activity and over three quarters allow anyone to access their photo albums.

Others are sending privileged information out into cyberspace that may help hackers breach their profiles, passwords and potentially their homes. Six out of ten include their birthday on their profile, over half list their home town and 17 per cent include their mobile phone number.

Younger users are the most vulnerable, with 40 per cent saying they accept friend requests from strangers.

Jeff Horne, director of threat research at Webroot, said: 'Consumers need to better protect themselves by guarding their profiles and setting stricter privacy policies - especially given the growing popularity in location-based social media tools that broadcast where you are.'

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