May 4, 2010 Consumer Reports panel, "Social Insecurity: Risky Consumer Behavior in the Era of Social Networks"

1. Hosted by:
Jeffrey Fox
Technology Editor

2. Since 2004, Consumer Reports
has published its annual
State of the Net report

3. Some of this year’s findings …
Where to find 2010 Consumer Reports State of the Net survey:
June 2010 issue of CONSUMER REPORTS or ConsumerReports.org

4. Key threat projections from the survey
* Cybercrime cost U.S. consumers $4.5 billion over the past two years
* 40 percent of households experienced at least one virus infection over the
past two years, a significant increase
* 2.1 million computers were replaced due to viruses and spyware during the
past two years
* 5.4 million online consumers submitted personal information to e-mail
(phishing) scammers during the past two years

5. Online identity theft
1.7 million online households identified an online source of ID theft in past year
Sources of online ID theft*
Retail purchase
Financial transaction
E-mail scam I responded
to
Someone hacked into my
computer
Social network site
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
% citing this source
*Among respondents at least somewhat confident they knew source of theft
Source: Consumer Reports 2010 State of the Net
Consumer Reports National Research Center

6. Social networks:
Some common risky behaviors
* 52% of social network users disclose at least one piece of personal
information that could lead to identity theft or jeopardize their family
38% post their full birth date (including the year)
45% of those with children at home post photos of their children
8% post their own street address
* Networks can be risky: 9 percent of online households experienced abuse
on a social network during the past year
Projections from the 2010 survey

7. Abuse on social networks
• 5.1 million online households in the past year
Social network abuses*
Infected by malware from app
Someone used my friends list to
spread virus
Shared invitation with friends that
was a scam
Shared app that infected friends
Unauthorized use of log-in and
identity
I was harrassed or threatened
Someone solicted money in my
name
Submitted personal info to
fraudulent "friend"
Someone harmed my reputation
Other
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
% reporting this type of abuse
*Among respondents reporting at least one abuse
Source: Consumer Reports 2010 State of the Net
Consumer Reports National Research Center

8. Social network privacy controls
Facebook
MySpace
Linked In
Twitter
Classmates
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percent of each service's users who have used privacy controls
Source: Consumer Reports 2010 State of the Net
Consumer Reports National Research Center

9. Social networks are becoming
a new platform for cybercrime
Twitter spam
Fake celebrity postings on
“LinkedIn” leads users
to malware
Source: Personal e-mail In-box

10. This is not
the first time
that we’ve
had to
scrutinize
Facebook’s
policies
When our sister publication The
Consumerist disclosed the above
change in Facebook terms of service in
Feb 2009, it ignited a revolt and the site
was forced to back down (right)

11. Security and privacy on
Projections from the 2010 survey
56% of Facebook users disclosed at least one piece of personal information that
could lead to identity theft or jeopardize their family
42% posted their birth date (including year)
7% posted their own street address
3% disclosed when they will be away from home
26% of Facebook users with children posted their children’s photos and names
23% of Facebook users didn’t use or didn’t know about the service’s privacy controls
18.4 million Facebook members used apps
38% of app users were confident apps are secure--or haven’t thought about it
1.8 million computers were infected by apps obtained through one or another social
network in the past year

12. Facebook’s new instant personalization program:
How to block your friends from divulging info about you:
1 2
3
6
4
5

13. Thank you!
Jeffrey Fox, Technology Editor, foxjef@consumer.org
Hosted by: