Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Safety Advocate and Educator  

Today's Tactics,Techniques, and Tips !

Are you telling or showing cybercriminals where you live?

Is your college student child exposing their identity?

In its annual report earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the most vulnerable targets of identity theft are 18-29 year olds.

Likewise, the 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report,released by Javelin Strategy & Research, uncovers similar findings. Their report states:

" Adult victims between the ages of 18 and 24 are least likely to take easy, but important, safeguards such as shredding documents and using antivirus software and firewalls, resulting in more than 5 percent of those surveyed falling victim. "

And Stephen Knighten, a research associate for Javelin Strategy & Research, adds that residence hall life may increase a student's risk for identity theft:

" Oftentimes,you're in a situation where you probably have a roommate and people coming in and out of your apartment … physical documents tend to sort of sit around, and there are more avenues of access with your roommates' friends and your friends. "

And what are some of the other careless acts of college students that leave them vulnerable to identity theft?

Here are a few of those ways they might be inviting predators, hackers, and other cybercriminals:

• 
  They setup and use an unsecured wireless network. Hackers love this because it makes their drive-by hacking that much easier. And not only is the student' information stolen, but the hacker may add software to turn the student's computer into a "zombie" computer thereby taking remote control of it.

Hint: It only takes a few more moments to create a userid and password for an extra level of protection. Just do it!

• They use guests' computers in the business centers of hotels to enter their personal and/or financial information. The newest trend for hackers is to hack into these computers so that can secretly record every keystroke and commit other crimes using the student's information.

Hint: If you use courtesy computers at a hotel or library, make absolutely sure that you are on a safe and secured line. And,taking it a step further, do not enter any personal and financial information unless it is absolutely necessary and this is your only option.

See a related story from ABC News' Good Morning America in a video entitled, "Online Hazards in Hotels". It is located at the ABC News site. To view it, just click on the link below:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2965688

• 
  They inhabit social networking sites and let their younger siblings share the site with them. While social networking sites, like MySpace, Facebook, Black Planet, Tagged, Yuwie, to name a few, are extremely popular communities where young people innocently engage in countless hours of chatting and picture-exchanging.
  
• 
  
• (Side note: Once you put a picture online, you're actually giving that picture to everyone online to make a personal copy for their own use.) Unfortunately, these social networking sites have also become the hangouts for child molesters and other cybercriminals.

Hint: Putting filtering and monitoring software on kids' computers provides some protection.Parents, use legitimate software to block Web sites and create a log of visited sites. As parents and guardians, you can monitor a child's activity from other computers and be notified of violations via email or cell phone.

• They quickly and without verifying identities add new "friends" to their instant messenger buddy lists. While it is rewarding to see your circle of friends grow with new friends from around the world, be sure that you absolutely know that the new friend is actually who he says he or she is. Many times predators and cybercriminals (male and female) will hide behind pictures of extremely attractive ladies in sexy poses.

Hint: Before adding any new friends to your circle of friends, take time to read their profile (which may or may not be completed fully), or do further investigation by visiting their website. An incomplete profile should serve as a red flag and raise your level of suspicion.

That's your Tactics,Techniques, and Tips segment for today!