Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Slow Down With the Selfies--These Common Habits Are Making You Easier To Be Hacked

Slow Down With the Selfies--These Common Habits Are Making You Easier To Be Hacked
(Schöning/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

A professional hacker told the Huffington Post that she never feels safe online but offered security tips to prevent your identity from being compromised.

Stephanie Carruthers is a "white hat" hacker, or an ethical hacker, whose work comprises of "phishing campaigns and physical security assessments." But her main objective is bringing awareness to her clients' vulnerabilities.

One of her main caveats was about selfies.





"I try not to label things as dumb, but uneducated," she told the Post, referring to the dumb things people do online that expose them to vulnerability.

I would hope that if someone truly understood the risk of the content which they are putting online, that they would reconsider posting it.





New drivers often post photos of their licenses, oblivious of the information they're volunteering to the Internet.

Excited teens (or even parents) taking a proud but up-close picture [of their new license] that has all their personal information, including home address.


Careful. Someone is taking note.

Giphy



New homeowners share their exciting news with a picture of themselves in front of their newly acquired dream home, often with keys in hand.

Homeowners taking a celebratory picture of their new house key and geo-tagging their new house without realizing that it is [easy] to duplicate a physical key from a photo.


Giphy



Employees should take caution of their surroundings when snapping a selfie at work.

Employees will often take selfies with complete disregard for what's in the foreground or background of the picture, including passwords/sensitive information on whiteboards, computer monitors, voicemail passwords taped to their phones, etc.

Giphy



When asked what people should refrain from doing on social media is posting without thinking. Carruthers said you should think about what is in the background of your selfie and be cognizant of how the information in the photo's background could be used against you.




Careful what you post to Facebook. Carruthers said that some of the most important information can be collected from what's posted on someone's profile.

Facebook correlates a huge amount of data, such as your friends, co-workers, family, your job, your hobbies, your kids, etc. Many answers to security questions [used for bank transactions and password resets] can be found just by looking at someone's Facebook account.


So there you have it folks. You don't have to stop taking selfies altogether for fear of being hacked. It just means you have to get creative with taking a photo and avoid revealing too much of yourself. Happy snapping!

H/T - HuffingtonPost, Twitter

More from Trending

Pedro Pascal; JK Rowling
Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images for Disney; Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Pedro Pascal Opens Up About Why He Called Transphobe JK Rowling A 'Heinous Loser'

Actor Pedro Pascal recently explained why he said Harry Potter author and anti-trans activist JK Rowling behaves like a "heinous loser," and suffice it to say he has absolutely no regrets.

The comment came in reference to Rowling gloating over the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision to define what exactly constitutes a "woman" in the eyes of U.K. law, a decision that subjects trans people to violence, among other problems.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance
Johannes Simon/Getty Images

Vance Dragged After Making Cringey Middle Finger Joke About 'Pink-Haired People' At GOP Dinner

Vice President JD Vance was criticized profusely after he attempted to make a joke mocking liberals during his appearance at the Ohio Republican Party dinner this week—only to have people calling out his lack of class for holding up his middle finger as he delivered the punchline.

Vance was in the middle of giving the event's keynote speech when he said the following:

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Posting Disturbing Parody Music Video About His Attack On Iran

President Donald Trump is facing harsh criticism after he shared a music video featuring the 1980 song "Bomb Iran"—a parody of The Regents song "Barbara Ann" that is best known for being covered by the Beach Boys—amid a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that could further inflame tensions in the Middle East.

The controversial parody song by Vince Vance & the Valiants plays over footage of B-2 stealth bombers, the same aircraft used to drop 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordow enrichment plant, Natanz complex, and Isfahan site.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Zohran Mamdani
Omar Havana/Getty Images; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Trump Just Tried To Slam Zohran Mamdani's Looks And Voice—And It Was Projection At Its Finest

President Donald Trump lashed out at Zohran Mamdani after the 33-year-old democratic socialist handily defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday—only to be called out for projecting his own feelings of inadequacy onto the star candidate.

Mamdani ran a campaign centered around economic populism, arguing that the city, a global financial center, has grown unaffordable for everyday residents, citing soaring rents and grocery prices, and outlining policies aimed at reducing the cost of living.

Keep ReadingShow less
salad
Anna Pelzer on Unsplash

Doctors Explain Which Seemingly 'Healthy' Foods Aren't All That Good For Us

Every day it seems like some new health fad pops up.

Eat this, don't eat that.

Keep ReadingShow less