How important is your privacy on the net to you?

Tiger Shark brought this topic to my attention in the following thead:
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=262055

When you create web pages or post on security related sites, how private are you with information like your real name and work location? I’ve never been that concerned because I did not think anyone would be interested enough to single me out for some kind of physical or digital harassment, but then again maybe I’m naive. Worse case likely scenario I see is some one messes with one of my boxes just to say he hacked the guy on Antionline named Irongeek. I’m not that well know so I don’t think many people would find that worth bragging about. Whatyou’re your thoughts on the mater? How private are you with information about yourself?

Nothing is private on the Internet.

Just looking at your post, I know your full name, where you live and your phone number. How? PM and I'll tell you!

Peoples will not hack you to have your private information, you gave and you will gave private information over the Internet.

And if you look closer you can get my home/work address too, my point is what realistically should I worry about?

Perhaps you know All this Info from his Tutorial that He posted?

To answere the title of this thread i would have to say,"we are as private as we want to be". Or i should say, as private as our knowledge of personal security dictates.

It's a small world and the internet has made it even smaller.

Oh and by the way don't worry to much about Tiger Shark, his eyesight is failing. I bet he couldn't hit you from 6 hundred these days. 3 maybe :D

Wish I could change the title now to "How important is your privacy on the net to you?" Thats more what I'm looking for. Can an Admin change the title for me?

No idea mate. PM Neg see if he can.

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Had a better idea, ask him to close this thread then creat another

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Oops, I just did the first. Either solution works by me.

I am not that private .. if someone asks me my name i will give it to them.. .if they ask me my address or phone number i wont .. if they can get it by other means tho .. good on em .. why they would try or want to i dunno .. im not a celebrity so i dont care much :)

noone would waste their time

I like my privacy......

May be different because of my sex.....or I am just plain paranoid. :(

I use several email accounts\online identities...depending on who I want to be...also depends on the sites.

I did have another account with AO originally....but let it lapse (forgot the password)..but I recreated myself.

Thats what I like about the net.....you can be whoever you want be ;)

You can sustain some amount of privacy... and as long as you keep your activities legit.

MLF

Ok,
My privacy. Firstly i'm quite an open sort of guy. I don't mind talking about my life who i am what i do etc. (if you look through my posts you could work out my first name)

That said. I am exe forces so i have at least a sence of personal security. I would not give out my home address or phone number etc. I would not let my ip address link to my true name. I have however, posted info that could (if a very determined person or organisation wanted) be used to track me down. That would take some effort though. So i think that how private we are on line is dependant on how much of a target we think we are. Barring all the nutters out there. Also how much exposure we get.

Jinxy=pissed at the moment, so will see what other people have to say and post back if needed :cool:

Simple fact: Your ability to secure anything begins with your level of suspicion of all things.... If you can't secure yourself properly then you won't care a rats ass or won't see the appropriate need to secure your employers stuff....

Doesn't that make you useless to your employer?

Last point.... What you do today on a system that has "memory" can and will come back to bite you in the future... What you do, how you are and how you live today will change.... What happens when those changes are disaffected by yesterday's "reality"?

You won't always be [insert age, job, position here].... Look at politics... Look how what they said 20 years ago comes back to haunt them.... It's hard to lose someone who has certain basic information from a long time ago..... It can be done.... But it's a lot easier to prevent them from getting the information in the first place......

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The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

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http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/k...2&byte=2534203

I quote this verse when i'm tempted to worry. You take reasonable measures
to keep people from stealing your pocketbook, but you shouldn't fear to walk
down the street.

The IRS knows where I live, and we all know there is no one on earth
meaner and tougher than they are, so why should I fear petty thieves
and wannabe H4X0rERs?
:cool:

I think it can be quite important to be private hell , Look at this crazy site i found relating to one of our members http://www.members.shaw.ca/infotechgeek Now i would never want others to see such a thing ROFL ( sorry ITG but i just can't keep a secret :) )

Dr. Leonard Kleinrock,the creator of the internet himself regretted that he should have created the net with security in it . so acording to him there is nothing much we can do about it now . may be if the net was recreated again .well that's a hindrous task

Google on my nick and/or real name and you'll be sure to find my home adress..

I don't care.. I chose to give out that kind of info..

Now if I were a scriptkiddy or something, I'd be skared shitless..

Ha i chose my nic because anyone who new me from way back would no who i was. I used to think it was fairly unique, untill i came here (the_Jinx) :)

personnal privacy concerns we quite allot, and since i started using the internet back in the mid 90's i was very careful as to where I posted my details, admittale I was foolish occasionaly and posted under an email address that gives away my names, this ive tried to clean up and asked various people to remove things and some are helpful, but google cache can still hold them so its not that difficult. The majority of free things Ive signed up for on the internet ive done under false names as to avoid spam and junk mail.

when ever I get junk mail though the post, i'll print off my standard "take me off your lists you bastards and give me written confirmation or i'll take legal action using the data protection act" (not that ive got the money to do that, but it works.), im only young but sometimes im just like a complaining old man...

a few months ago, i was in a club and was chatting up some girl and ive got a very good memory even when im complelty wasted, so i remembered everything about her, the only things i new about her were here name and county she lived in, allong with all the other drunken banter...for some strange reason she said she'd meet up with me if i could prove i was serious by finding out things about her - full name, age, address, etc..... so a few taps away on the keyboard revealed all i needed to know including an article in the newspaper about her, which she'd even forgotten about. (dont ask me why she asked me to do that, I thought it was really random and would freak her out but i decided to take that risk) it just goes to show that information is abundance on the internet and people forget that.

and one time on AO i accidentally put my real name at the end of a post and was so concerned that i hit the edit button and got rid of it straight away.

call me paranoid, but someone once said to me "paranoia saves lives" and i believe that.

i2c

jinxy, ever been here : http://www.jinx.com/ (not mine though ;)) ??

I used to be realy paranoid, but not anymore, if people want to know about me, they will no matter how paranoid I have been..

It might even be usefull to do some stuff under your real name, if I were to look for a job and the 'head hunter' entered my name in google and found some patches on GNU sites and other on-topic suff I posted, that might just help get me that job..

In the beginning I was very paranoid, but that was mainly because my parents were running a P.I. / IT Security combo business out of the house (they're both retired police officers, he's the #1 security expert in the state). From listening to them talk so often about identity theft and cyber stalking and how easily it was performed, I became very paranoid. In fact, they used to teach a special "Predator" class to law enforcement agencies regarding that.

Since then, I've loosened up. I post stuff like my first name and the state I live in, but that's about it. If someone can find more on me, I'd sure be interested in learning how you did it, that could prove fascinating. But as I aspire to establish a professional rep as my career progresses, I'm going to inevitably have to give up some of that privacy as I market myself online.

Honestly, I dont worry about my personal security as much as some do. Most of the time, I feel like if I dont look for trouble, I am not really a likely target. Once in a while I will get some bonehead in an online game giving me a hard time because I swatted him too easily, but thats about it.

Then my kids were born. Now I am totally and completely paranoid about their privacy and safe keeping. Other then my family, I pretty much dont care. Of course if ya mess with me, I will pay Tigershark ta find you! :)

IMHO, in todays world of technology.... if one seeks out somebody bad enough they will be found.


ps: Unless you are Osama....then that crooked ass Bush admin. with there hidden agendas couldnt find **** in a cow field.

Im very much like fyrewall, im learning each day, if people who are more experienced than me want to find more out about me than what i prepared to give than good luck to em!!!

Maybe i will be famouse one day then they can earn a bob or two out of my info.

Kittenwithabite

May be there needs to be a tutorial on how cyber stalking is done and how to protect yourself.

Good idea, I totally agree. Any resident experts on that around here?

Also, what's a bob, and how do I get one? ;)

A "Bob"? I'm not sure what you mean.

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Of course if ya mess with me, I will pay Tigershark ta find you!

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I'm not cheap you know.... I used to be, but I was a bit of a slut then.... ;)

Seriously though, Coffee is a great example of what I am trying to say.... A few years ago he was "happy go lucky", "so you know who I am" etc, etc. But then things changed.... He became responsible for others... Once that happens there is a diiferent light on the subject.... and it's not the rose colored one..... Also, as you get older you begin to realize how quickly you are becoming less capable.... It's scarey what ten years can do to you.... :eek:

This internet has a memory like nothing before it..... Unless you literally "up sticks" and move, change your life and patterns within it someone can still find you if you gave them enough to start with..... and there are some ****ing wierd people out there.... read the papers.... These people are nuts.... Such a waste to fall prey to someone with an IQ of 10 but a determination to get you because you dissed them once don't you think?

[Edit]

She's English.... A bob is a shilling, 5p or the equivalent of a nickel.... ;)

[/Edit]

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Originally posted here by rcgreen
You take reasonable measures
to keep people from stealing your pocketbook, but you shouldn't fear to walk
down the street.

The IRS knows where I live, and we all know there is no one on earth
meaner and tougher than they are, so why should I fear petty thieves
and wannabe H4X0rERs?
:cool: [/B]

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I'm with ya. You can't fear everything. The only times i'm concerned with security as a user are when i'm purchasing online.

Hidden:

It's not about fearing everything.... It's called being smart.... You may fear nothing but your life is going to be a whole lot easier if you don't have to keep dealing with the crap. I have better things to do with my time than have to fight off morons..... If you don't, then fine.... but remember that while you may have time today, you may not tomorrow - and that's when the dumb foxx will start playing with you.... just when you _don't_ need it.....

I used to be an incredible freak for personal security. My old handle was no : profile even.

Times change, and the more I learn the less I cared. So right now, I honestly don't care what anyone can find on me and don't take extreme measures (or many, if at all) to protect personal information of mine (save CC numbers and bank accounts).

And yes, I've been this way for quite some time, and I have had people try to hijack my information. But it's always far too simple to destroy them when they try.

Sun Tzu would tell you to plan for the future, even though you know not what it may bring yet....

I think I'll be fine :) Normal day people don't live in fear of the world and almost all of them end up fine.

Combine a normal person's lack of fear of the world with computer/internet/privacy common sense (don't yell outloud your bank pinn number, but know that your name doesn't mean a damn thing) and you are as secure as someone who won't put a firewall on their computer because they've denied access from the outside already.

And that means damn secure, since the only other way is for the person themselves to mess it up. And if I do that, then it is my fault, and something I will have to learn from.

But I won't play Chicken-little anymore.

I totally agree with Tiger on this issue...
Things you have done in the past will sneak up and bite you later...It has happened to me and I am much more carefull now.

There are some REAL whackos out there.

My perception also changed once I became responisble for other people (my kids)...and other peoples data ( my job ).

My kids are now old enough to have their own email accounts and surf the internet...use msn messager etc. I have seen some really weird stuff in their mail boxes cause they have registered at ...what they thought...a harmless site one comes to mind www.funnyjunk.com.

Not to mention the spyware infestations.

I am teaching them to not trust anyone on the internet...cause your REALLY dont know WHO they are...... :eek:

MLF

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Things you have done in the past will sneak up and bite you later...It has happened to me and I am much more carefull now.

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If you have done things in the past that are going to bite you, then you've already done something you shouldn't have, or didn't cover your tracks well enough where it counted.

note: where it counted, not everywhere

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Not to mention the spyware infestations.

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Havn't had a peice of spyware in -years-. Internet common sense is just that, common sense. Some have to learn it the hardway.

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I am teaching them to not trust anyone on the internet...cause your REALLY dont know WHO they are......

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Yeah. That's great :P Let's build a world of fear and distrust, because that'll help change the way the internet works.



I refuse to go "underground" again, or start going on a mass encryption spree to protect my data and name. The things I've done in the past that warrented me needing to keep information closed has been done. But we need to understand that any sort of extreem is bad. Too little care and too much care. Some things really truely matter when it comes to information cracking, and some things just don't matter. Social security for one. Yearly net income, for another. Age, Date of Birth. However, checking account numbers, bank statements, cc numbers, those do matter.

Why? Because I've seen what information can do and what some information simply can not do. Sure, we can live in a fantasy world and say "but any information can lead to leverage against you!" and then run because the sky is falling. Or we can look at this logically and see the process of what happens when someone actually tries to use your social security number, and how incredibly easy it is to combat it. I'm not talking out of my ass here, I've just been in far too many information related companies (government research included, for those who know me) to be bluffed into thinking information disclosure on the whole is bad.



edit:
And tiger :

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Sun Tzu would tell you to plan for the future, even though you know not what it may bring yet....

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Sorry :P He wouldn't. He planned for events one at a time without too much worry of the future. Not only because he was Taoist, but because too much on the generals mind would mean he left the current state of time without the amount of thought that it needs.

Thinking one step ahead is fine. Thinking 400 steps ahead is not. Knowing your enemy (what information is perfectly fine and what isn't) versus preassuming and over/under estimating your enemy (having no clue in reality how the systems work regarding information) is a sure defeat on the general's end.

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Yeah. That's great :P Let's build a world of fear and distrust, because that'll help change the way the internet works.

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There's a fine line between caution and fear. "I can't see it, so it's not there" is also definately not the conclusion to come to. Coming from my background, I've learned of some crazy crappin' stuff. For starters, it's more common than many think, and second, you shouldn't only prepare for what's likely.

You shouldn't be afraid, but it is wise to be cautious. Like Tig said, we're not afraid, we just don't want to deal with the wackos.

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There's a fine line between caution and fear. "I can't see it, so it's not there" is also definately not the conclusion to come to. Coming from my background, I've learned of some crazy crappin' stuff. For starters, it's more common than many think, and second, you shouldn't only prepare for what's likely.

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You may want to reread my entire post just above yours, as it never says a single thing about dismissing everything.

Touche, point noted, it just seemed to lean that way since you're talking about not having had any problems. But for the benefit of other readers, there are too many who hold to that kind of thinking. You've never been cyberstalked, never known anyone cyberstalked, so surely cyberstalking isn't such a big deal.

My overall point though was that you indeed shouldn't be afraid, but there's no harm in caution, and I don't think we're going into the overcautious in this arena.

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You've never been cyberstalked, never known anyone cyberstalked, so surely cyberstalking isn't such a big deal.

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According to my posts above, and the one above that. I have dealt with it. And like I said, if it happened again, I would destroy them again.

Just like my seven year record without viruses and without virus protection, my three year record without spyware (and no prevention solutions), and my uncracked (still) XP box... if and when someone can find a way to beat my own system, especially in this case regarding understanding what information is safe and what isn't... I'll stick with my point of view. And why will I be so stubborn? Because I don't trust in paranoia. I trust in my ability to learn how systems work before saying what is and isn't bad, and thus trying my own self to improve.


You keep saying caution but did you even actually read the above post? I don't mind caution, and I said that any extreem (too much worry or none at all) is a bad thing. But let's not go around screaming "PERSONAL SECURITY !!111five" without actually knowing what information matters and what information doesn't matter.

I've got work to go to. Just remember, even if none of us budge, there is a difference between being afraid because people tell you it's dangerous, and actually understanding which parts make it dangerous and which parts are FUD.

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According to my posts above, and the one above that. I have dealt with it. And like I said, if it happened again, I would destroy them again.

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I understood that the first time you corrected me. ;) Note I said "for the benefit of other readers". I'm sure you do have your own way of "dealing" with it (just hope it doesn't involve that shiny sword in your profile).

I think what you don't realize is I'm trying to respond to benefit our less-experienced readers, not just yourself. As I have no doubt that with your experience and security methods you don't have to exercise quite the caution the rest of us do, at the same time I wouldn't recommend to the rest of the world being that confident. You have to remember that people like you are the minority.

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I've got work to go to. Just remember, even if none of us budge, there is a difference between being afraid because people tell you it's dangerous, and actually understanding which parts make it dangerous and which parts are FUD.

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Absolutely.... But from my experience working in intelligence, (just a year), you'd be surprised which little piece of crap information you give out about yourself is the one that gets you screwed....

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some things just don't matter. Social security for one. Yearly net income, for another. Age, Date of Birth. However, checking account numbers, bank statements, cc numbers, those do matter.

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preceeded by:-

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I refuse to go "underground" again,

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... is a pretty naive statement in the USA... SSN???? Pooh, there's a whole _big_ difference between living a "normal" life in the USA and living outside the system.. You sacrifice your future for today if you leave the SSN system..... You may think it's fine today.... You have that "zen" thing going on.... There is a fact of life in the US - You are either in the system or you aren't..... Should you need the system in the future it will reject you as quickly as you seem to reject it. BTW, it ain't that easy to fix identity theft - It took a friend of mine 2 years before she was back to _almost_ where she was..... The **** she went through in the meantime really wasn't worth it.....

FYI, I ****ed with the IRS and was "winning"... But then circumstances changed.... Then, even though I was "winning" it became illogical.... It wasn't in my best interest in the long run.... The details are irrelevant.... I negotiated, (won, IMO), and can now live a "normal life.... Your circumstances will change..... Don't ever think they won't......