Nia says she is on her phone virtually 24/7.
Her last name is not being revealed – she is a WPTV promotions producer. She even, once, made her social media sites public pages, open for all to see. Cybersecurity experts warn that trading privacy for popularity is a huge risk.
Nia found out to detriment, that some of her favorite apps, from games to fitness apps, have been hacked. He showed her that all kinds of stuff about her, is out there: location data, passwords, user names, etc. Nia questioned what a hacked fitness app could have to do with her security.
Alan explained that with the fitness app, he can tell when she is or isn’t at home. If she runs there, there is the potential physical security stalking type thing to think about.
Nia then gave a perfect example which serves to highlight how one’s family and friends can give your privacy away, completely inadvertently. She told us that a few days ago, her dad posted a video of her, and shared it. Her vehicle license plate was visible.
Alan Crowetz is constantly ‘preaching’ of the importance of cybersecurity and the need for extreme vigilance. He stresses the need to get a password manager and to never re-use a password. We must protect ourselves he says and thinks before hitting the send button.
He goes on to say that one of the more obvious ways to stop voluntarily sharing information, is to make sure we lock our profiles down and be very careful what we post. Nia is taking Alan’s advice to heart. She says it has been a sobering lesson for someone who considered their online security was already better than most.
The most shocking thing to me Nia told us, is that I really thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping my stuff hidden. To see if you've been hacked, go to the Have I Been Pwned website by clicking here.
