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Networking sites help burglars home in.
Networking sites help burglars home in.
August 30, 2009 , Times of India Bangalore
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Scraps, Tweets Inform Not Only Friends But Also Criminals That Users Are Away On Holiday
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Sydney: Facebook users enthusing about an upcoming holiday or a recently purchased high-tech gadget may not just be telling their friends but also potential burglars, warns an insurance company.
A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found 38%, or nearly four in ten, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33% details of a weekend away.
Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be friends online with people they dont know, this presents a serious risk to the security of peoples home, said the insurer.
In a report called The Digital Criminal, Legal & General said that people used social media sites to connect with people who were essentially strangers , which could provide potential thieves with vital, personal information.
To test how readily people accepted friends online, Legal & Generals survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 friend or follow requests to strangers selected at random. Of those 13% were accepted on Facebook and 92% on Twitter without any checks.
But despite these new friends, the survey found that 64%, or nearly two-thirds , of 16-24 year olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts.
Men were found to be quite relaxed about giving personal information online, with 13% including their mobile number on their profile compared with 7 % of women. About 9% of men also posted their address compared to 4% of women.
This reaction could result in a complete stranger potentially being able to learn about a persons interests, location and movements in and out of their home, said Legal & General.
Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who appears in BBCs Beat The Burglar series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.
I call it internet shopping for burglars. It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home ... all from the comfort of the sofa, said Fraser. REUTERS
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Sydney: Facebook users enthusing about an upcoming holiday or a recently purchased high-tech gadget may not just be telling their friends but also potential burglars, warns an insurance company.
A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found 38%, or nearly four in ten, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33% details of a weekend away.
Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be friends online with people they dont know, this presents a serious risk to the security of peoples home, said the insurer.
In a report called The Digital Criminal, Legal & General said that people used social media sites to connect with people who were essentially strangers , which could provide potential thieves with vital, personal information.
To test how readily people accepted friends online, Legal & Generals survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 friend or follow requests to strangers selected at random. Of those 13% were accepted on Facebook and 92% on Twitter without any checks.
But despite these new friends, the survey found that 64%, or nearly two-thirds , of 16-24 year olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts.
Men were found to be quite relaxed about giving personal information online, with 13% including their mobile number on their profile compared with 7 % of women. About 9% of men also posted their address compared to 4% of women.
This reaction could result in a complete stranger potentially being able to learn about a persons interests, location and movements in and out of their home, said Legal & General.
Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who appears in BBCs Beat The Burglar series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.
I call it internet shopping for burglars. It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home ... all from the comfort of the sofa, said Fraser. REUTERS
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