Blog 4

In today’s society with the growth of technology new media comes with some positives and negatives. A few positives would be communication with peers, staying in touch with up to date news, and online shopping. But the main focus is what I believe to be the most dangerous thing people face when using new media. Location services, cyber bullying, and false information are just a few things that are negative about it. I believe the most important thing people should be aware of is IDENTITY THEFT and FRAUD.

This is the most dangerous thing to me because people don’t really think of the consequences when surfing on let’s say Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media sites. Kent Lewis says “If you post that you’re out of town on vacation, you’ve opened yourself up for burglary. If you mention that you’re away on business for a weekend, you may leave your family open to assault or robbery.” You may think everything is private but in true reality if people want to access it or obtain something about you, well they can.  Everyone knows not to share their social security numbers or driver’s license but a lot of the information that social media sites ask for can be used to steal your identity. For example:

•         Full name
•         Date of Birth
•         Home town
•         Relationship status
•         School locations/graduation dates
•         Hobbies, interests, and other affiliations

(Lewis)

Just those simple subjects can be used to compromise your identity and a few examples on how it can be done:

•         GPS-enabled phones that share your locations.
•         False profiles can be used to fuel resume fraud or defamation of character.

(Lewis)

The only way this problem really can be solved is if a person just doesn't use the internet but the best way to protect you from being a victim is:

•        Keep your social security and driver’s license number to yourself
•         Try to create a username and password that would be tricky for each profile
•         Change passwords regularly
•         If you plan on being socially active in any form of social media just use less information about yourself.
•   Try to not list your home town, DOB, HOME ADDRESS, high school/college, and primary email address

•         Be careful of what you post
•        Be sure to Google yourself regularly

o   If it’s hard to find you than that is positive

o   If you see yourself on the first page, well then you can be easily attacked and need to change a few things.

People who are regularly active on new media sites need to be aware on the proper way of using them as to protecting privacy and security. This problem should be a big red flag in your head when using sites. IDENTITY THEFT AND FRAUD is the most dangerous to people who are using new media!

Lewis, Kent . "How Social Media Networks Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud ." How Social Media Networks Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud | Entrepreneurs' Organization. Entrepeuners Organization, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.eonetwork.org/knowledgebase/specialfeatures/pages/social-media-networks-facilitate-identity-theft-fraud.aspx>.

Blog Project Assignmentt

In today’s society a lot of new technology arises every single day. The internet is one of the biggest sources for people and it brings lots of concerns to society. Forms of social media, online schooling, and banking are just a few things that could cause you big headaches if not used properly. The top 10 things I believe concerning new media that people should be aware of while using are:

       I.          Identity Theft – Defined as the unauthorized use or attempted misuse of an existing credit card or other existing account, the misuse of personal information to open a new account or for another fraudulent purpose, or a combination of these types of misuse.(US Department of Justice)

a.      Between 1999 and 2000 a credit-company help desk employee named Phillip Cummings, 33 years old, might just have committed the biggest known case of identity theft. He stole thousands of credit reports through Teledata Communications Inc., a company that provides banks with computerized statements of people’s information. ABC News states that Cummings was paid $30 for each report he stole but also passed it on to another 20 odd people. After obtaining this information the thieves can cash out by using credit cards or get into the persons personal bank accounts. FBI said that there were about 30,000 victims with an estimated $100 million stolen. Phillip Cummings and several of his accomplices were put to a stop in 2005, he pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges, sentencing him to 14 years in prison.(Bell)

b.      In 2013 statistics show that an annual 11,571,900 people are victims of Identity fraud. An average financial loss per incident is $4,930 and in 2013 a total loss of $21 billion. The misuse of an existing credit card is 64.1 percent; existing bank account is 35 percent. Average ages of 18-24 are the highest victims to this. Arizona shows to be the highest identity theft complaint while South Dakota has the lowest complaint rate.

     II.          Miss-lead information – it is very hard to identify where the information originates. People seem to believe everything they read first and interpret it differently.

a.      With the new forms of social media, Twitter is probably the first thing people will believe what they see on there. When in April 2013 the Boston bombings occurred, social media users decided to do their own investigations. They wrongfully claimed that a missing student was one of the bombers because he looked like the bomber and seemed to be a little “senile”, what seemed to happen was this student took his own life. The mainstream media played a part of validating the misinformation by publishing images of the wrongfully accused. It is truly up to the user to determine if it is a hoax or not.(Vis)

b.      There really isn’t any statistics on this topic. Everyday thousands of misleading information is spread on the internet. Wikipedia is one of the most common sites for this. The fact that people can edit posts from others with their own opinions is great but with that in mind, people like to mislead others. It is solely up to the user to determine if the quote, facts, and anything pertaining to something is a valid source or trying to fool you.

    III.          Internet Predators – Never trust a friend request on a social media site. Unless you truly do know them in person. People tend to change their ages and sex just to “fit in” with a certain crowd of children.

a.      In 2011, a Roman Catholic priest was arrested on child pornography charges. Bartley Sorensen, 63 years old, pleaded guilty to receiving and possessing thousands of sexually explicit images of exploited children. (Kelleher) The priest may not have had a fake identity but he was preying on younger children and engaged in this activity.

b.      There are over 500,000 predators online every day, kids from the ages of 12-15 are more to being manipulated, more than 89 percent of internet predators go into chat rooms and through instant messaging, and 27 percent of them actually ask the kids for sexual photographs of themselves. (Kempf)

    IV.          Cyber Bullying – aggressive behavior manifested by the use of force. Includes verbal harassment, physical assault, or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims. Race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability. The “imbalance of power” maybe is social power and/or physical power. (Statistic brain)

a.      In October 2006, Megan Meier, 13-year-old girl committed suicide as the result of a cyber-hoax. A mother of a former friend of Megan created a fake profile on MySpace just to gain information if Megan was talking badly upon her own daughter, which turned hostile. The identity was a “cute boy” by the name of “Josh Evans” It started out great but the comments ended up turning into insults. Megan was facing low self-esteem as it is. “Josh Evans” one day stated: “I don’t know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.” Later calling her a slut and that she was fat. From a history of depression the stress and frustration caused her to hang herself. (ABC News)

b.      California is the number one state with the high level of bullying with New York following it. 37 percent of teens reported that they were being bullied while at school with 52 percent being cyber bullied.

     V.          Job Security – Chances that an individual will keep his or her job due to certain posts they may make. With Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, individuals need to be careful of what they post to the internet. Such as statuses or photos/videos. Something that maybe funny to you or your friends might end up being frowned upon in a business setting.

a.      Rep. Anthony Weiner “tweeted and Facebook-Messaged inappropriate photos of himself to at least six women is the latest sexting scandal among politicians.” (Canning) Within seven years Weiner engaged with six different women by sending photos and posting things on his pages. This just proves that nothing is really kept secret, even if you think you are sending them “privately”

b.      91% of people post photos of themselves onto pages, about 8% of people in the US have been rejected jobs due to a post they have made on a social media site.

    VI.          Awareness of Location – Location applications allow user based content on their physical location via cell phones, laptops, or internet based devices.

a.      The “you are here” marker on a city map is the most popular one for cell phone users. Application such as Twitter, Facebook, and leaving GPS on can allow the app to pinpoint your exact location. The downside is the concern of privacy and security of individuals. Upside of it would be that it allows your search to be clearer and notice what topics you have been searching more than others. Also if you are trying to find a restaurant/hotel near you than it allows you to see the ratings by other people. Weather is a big one as well! (Educause)

  VII.          News – The internet provides people with more sources on the topics going on around the world. No longer do we have to wait for the morning newspaper.

a.      Twitter is just one of the applications that allow people to connect to news faster and unbiased opinions of others. The internet provides us with information that hasn’t been filtered out just like news castings on the television.

VIII.          Communication – Internet provides us with instant messaging, video calling, and applications like Facebook to connect with our peers no matter where in the world. Skype is another program that allows connecting for free.

    IX.          Blogs – Blogs are a huge benefit to the internet. It provides people to write their views on different sorts of topics. Also allowing people to give their own opinions on what the person might have written out.

Canning, Andrea, and Jessica Hopper. "Rep. Anthony Weiner's Sexting Scandal: Why Did He Do It?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 06 June 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

"Cyber / Bullying Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

Kelleher, James B. "Pennsylvania Priest Gets 8 Years behind Bars for Child Porn." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 02 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014

Bell, Rachael. "Sensational Heists." The Biggest Identity Theft Case in U.S. History — — Crime Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014

Vis, Farida. "The Rapid Spread of Misinformation Online." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014