Facebook accounts pose dangers

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

One student was rejected from his law school of choice after admissions officers browsed his Facebook profile. Another student was forced to immediately pay his tuition after his mother used his student ID and password to withdraw him from a class, unbeknownst to him. With his hours reduced, he no longer qualified for financial aid.

Those are some of the horror stories information security specialists told during “Saving Face on Facebook and Dealing with Identity Theft” Monday night in Oliver Hall.

The lecture was part of a series of events in October, Cyber Security Awareness Month, designed to teach students about the dangers lurking in cyberspace. The presenters warned students about the dangers of putting risqué photos and personal information on Facebook for all to see.

Rick Whitmore, director of technology for KU Unclassified Senate, said hackers were constantly on the prowl for Internet users’ personal information.

“If they are after you, they can build a picture of your whole life,” he said.

Julie Fugett, systems analyst for KU Information Services, said students should always be aware of what the Internet had to say about them. She suggested removing Facebook tags from incriminating photos and comments before the wrong person saw them.

“Once it’s online, it’s pretty much there forever,” Fugett warned.

Fugett used a Facebook posting for a party in Lawrence as an example. All Facebook users could view the invitation, which included the hostesses’ names, along with an address, phone number and KU e-mail address. The party was titled “Who likes TITTIES?”

Whitmore said such postings could ruin a student’s reputation and career options. He said that all too often, students made unflattering posts online without thinking of the consequences.

Although he is no longer a student, Whitmore joined Facebook to look for examples of such behavior. He was shocked to see his nephew’s profile.

“Now I can see pictures of my 19-year-old nephew slamming down 40s,” he said. “I’m like, dude, I know your parents.”

Fugett went on to warn students against “phishers,” hackers who mislead Internet users into giving away personal information. She said hackers also commandeered users’ desktops to send spam messages all over the Internet.

“You need to keep your system up to date with antivirus software and do not click on links in any e-mail without thinking first,” Fugett said.

Whitmore also strongly urged students to never give out their KU username or password to anyone. He said the KU Password Policy stated that students could be kicked out of school for giving their password information to anyone.

“If anyone else in the known universe knows your KUID and password, go change it right now,” he said.

John DeVore, Coffeyville senior, said he took steps to protect himself from online security breaches.

“I try to go through pictures on my Facebook profile and look at the ones I might want to take off,” he said. “I bury my passwords quite a bit for different accounts so if someone got into one account, they couldn’t get into all of them.”

— Edited by Tara Smith

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