[LINK] So would you give personal secrets to this toy duck?

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

<brd>
Is the phrase "wisdom of average internet users" an oxymoron?

But more seriously, how far should the nanny state go in protecting 
people from themselves?

Should special rules apply in the case of new users of new technologies 
where common rules of conduct have not been established and widely 
disseminated?
</brd>

So would you give personal secrets to this toy duck?
Daily Telegraph
05-Dec-2009
Nick Tabakoff

Users of networking site Facebook are sitting ducks for internet 
criminals looking to steal their identities. In research commissioned by 
The Daily Telegraph, which has shocked even top fraud squad police, 
almost half of users in their 20s agreed to a request from a rubber duck 
to be Facebook "friends". A similar result occurred with a group of 
internet users in their 50s, with many agreeing to be Facebook friends 
with a photo of two cats.

Many of the Facebook users in both age groups volunteered some of their 
most intimate details to both the rubber duck and the cats, including 
their full date of birth, workplace, email address and location. Some 
even volunteered full addresses and phone numbers without prompting.

The study was conducted by leading internet security firm Sophos. It has 
raised serious questions about the wisdom of average internet users, 
given the friend requests were sent without any introduction. One of the 
world's top experts on cyber-crime, Superintendent Brian Hay of the 
Queensland Fraud Squad, said the results were "frightening". "Some 
people have surrendered almost all the information a criminal needs as 
the foundation to represent those people and take out financial 
instruments in their name," he said. "It shows scammers don't have to 
work very hard to find their victims." The rubber duck posed under the 
bogus name Daisy Feletin, an anagram of "False Identity".

Sophos asked 100 Facebook users in their 20s to be the duck's friend. 
More than 46 per cent who were sent requests agreed to be friends with 
Daisy within two weeks. Of those who accepted Daisy as a friend, 98 per 
cent gave either a full or partial date of birth to the duck.

All provided a full email address. Most alarmingly, 4 per cent even gave 
their full address and 7 per cent gave phone numbers.Other details given 
included photographs, the names of spouses/siblings/relatives/ friends, 
job and education histories and social interests. Even those in their 
50s gave out far too much information to the cats dubbed Dinette Stonily 
(anagram of Stolen Identity).

Of the 41 per cent who accepted "friend" requests in the Sophos study, 
92 per cent gave a full or partial date of birth, 88 per cent gave an 
email address and 22 per cent gave a place of work or study. Older 
people were also more willing than younger people to give out their full 
address and phone information 22 per cent provided a personal phone 
number. Sophos boss Paul Ducklin said Facebook users were also 
compromising family and friends: "People should assume that you can 
never permanently remove details." Mr Ducklin said he was surprised 
people were so ready to volunteer such information with so little 
prompting from an anonymous toy. "It's clearly not a person. Why would 
you trust a toy from a $2 shop?" he said. Supt Hay said protecting 
identity was more imperative than ever, with the harvesting of personal 
information the starting point for serious crimes such as mortgage 
fraud. "We know criminals are out there targeting Facebook.

Throw into the mix that people are giving away too much about themselves 
and you've got a real problem," he said. "The risk that people are 
prepared to endure for social interaction could potentially spoil lives. 
"If your identity is stolen, you have to continually prove yourself.

The stress can break up marriages and lead to serious health problems."

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Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au