Location-based social network apps boom: Webroot
39 percent of mobile device users use location-tracking applications on their mobile devices and 55 percent people worry over loss of privacy incurred from using geolocation
Monday, July 19, 2010 BRACKNELL, UK:
More and more people are revealing their exact location on the Internet or being tracked via geolocation applications installed onto their mobile devices, increasing their chances of being targeted by Internet security attacks, according to new research commissioned by Webroot, provider of Internet security software. Surveying more than 1,500 social network users who own geolocation-ready mobile devices, Webroot found that 39 percent indicated to using geolocation on their mobile devices and 73 percent of those use a geo-tracking application to do so.
Among those, more than a quarter used location-based services to share their whereabouts with strangers, and 14 percent use one to meet new people said a press release. Of the UK respondents, Google Latitude (32 percent) was the most commonly used geo-location tool, followed by Yahoo’s Flickr (25 percent), Google Buzz (20 percent) and Twitter Location (18 percent).
Jeff Horne, director of Threat Research, Webroot, said “as location-based applications continue to gain popularity, we should all be increasingly aware of what cyber-criminals can do with the huge amount of personal data hat is being shared by everyone on the Web. People often get excited about the new features available on social networks and forget about the power of the Internet and the amount of valuable information they give away through the simple act of updating their status and ‘checking-in’ at their current location.”
Other rapidly growing location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla encourage users to share their current locations by ’checking-in’, and in return they are rewarded by earning points or they receive discounts offered by nearby retailers. Tips for safer social networking: Be aware of your Smartphone settings:
To keep your personal whereabouts private, turn off the “locate me” feature on your iPhone, or the GPS photo-tagging feature found on most Smartphones. When enabled, this feature allows your phone to store GPS data within your pictures. Thus every time you take a picture and upload it to a social network or other Web site, the photo contains GPS data that can pinpoint your location. Never post anything you wouldn't want the world to see:
Even with privacy settings enabled, social network sites themselves make mistakes and sometimes accidentally make information marked private available to anyone. As a rule of thumb, only post photos or messages that you wouldn't mind your boss, parent, or any stranger to see or read. Make personal information private:
Protect yourself by updating privacy settings on your profile to restrict or omit access to any personal data.
Users of popular geolocation services that allow you to share where you are should be especially careful to disclose your location only to specific people, and to nobody else.
When a friend posts a link to a Web site on their profile or wall, and you've never been to that Web site before, wait a few hours before you click. Being the first to follow a link can lead to being the next victim of a social network worm. Familiarize yourself with the social networks’ privacy options to ensure you’re taking advantage of any enhanced security features.
Only accept friend requests, emails and site links from people you know. Even then, be selective about who you "friend" and what you open or click, especially from people you don't know.
©CIOL Bureau
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