This article was shared by the New York Times about how those people with a passion for music and going to music concerts should be careful engaging in Facebook quizzes such as “10 Concerts I’ve Been To, One is a Lie” as they can threaten their online security.
The New York Times wrote an article that was circulated on social media '10 Concerts' Facebook Meme May Reveal More Than Musical Tastes' by Christopher Mele and Daniel Victor and published on the 28 April, 2017 about the security risks of participating in Facebook quizzes. They write “Privacy experts cautioned it could reveal too much about a person's background and preferences and sounds like a security question – name the first concert you attended – that you might be asked on a banking, brokerage or similar website to verify your identity”. The article offers good advice in particular for social media and Internet users and should consider the consequences of what they share online.
This is certainly true. While many organisations do use security questions and they contain music preferences and related activities they now allow users to write their own questions which can contain only knowledge they will know.
Of a greater concern to me as a social media user but not mentioned in this article is how Facebook’s dominance and control in social media is growing and their account can now be used to log on to any one of a range of social media sites such as Instagram and Pin Interest. If a Facebook account is hacked then the security on a range of accounts can be compromised.
The article was edited for copyright reasons. No copyright infringement intended. I have circulated the full article on my Google + page for those interested.
"10 Concerts‟ Facebook Meme May Reveal More Than Musical Tastes" by Christopher Mele and Daniel Victor, published in The New York Times on 28 April, 2017.
It's all fun and games until someone's password security question gets hacked.
A meme making the rounds on Facebook asks users to list 10 concerts – nine they've attended and a fabricated one – invites others to identify the fake one.
But the post – “10 Concerts I've Been To, One is a Lie” – might also be an invitation to a midlevel threat to your online privacy and security experts said.
The meme, which surged in popularity this week, is the kind of frivolous distraction that makes up social media interactions, similar to other viral memes, such as the Ice-Bucket Challenge.
Privacy experts cautioned it could reveal too much about a person's background and preferences and sounds like a security question – name the first concert you attended – that you might be asked on a banking, brokerage or similar website to verify your identity…
Mark Testoni, a national security and privacy expert who is chief executive of SAP National Security Services, said in an email that he recommended exercising, “vigilance bordering on a little paranoia” in online posts.
“We need to understand how we interact can disclose not only specific details but patterns of behaviour and often our location, among other things,” he wrote.
Alec Muffett as software engineer and security researcher, wrote in an email that he is sympathetic to polls like the concert question. “They are cute a little bit of fun, you learn new things about your friends, and sometimes you get a surprise or two,” he wrote.
“There are certainly also polls that are geared towards collecting information which could be used to fraudulently 'recover' an account,” he added.
He said companies, government and other groups rely on so-called authenticators, such as “What is your mother's maiden name?” Such answers are not true authenticators, but are facts.
“The usual aphorism is „Your password should be secret, but "secrets" make really bad passwords"- especially when they are discoverable or guessable facts,” Mr. Muffett wrote.
Mr. Kaiser agreed. In cases where the answer to security questions are easily obtained – what high school did you attend? – it's best to make up an answer, even if it's not as easy to recall.
He said his advice about online quizzes and memes was not meant to be a killjoy, though he encouraged social media users to consider the consequences of what they share.
“People always have to have their eyes wide open when they're on the Internet,” he said. “It's the way of the world.”
