We Are No Longer Safe online

We Are No Longer Safe On-line

The dawn of 21st century witnessed one of the most rapidly growing inventions in the field of internet. This is growing as fast as wild weed and it is called social networking. The basic component of any social networking site is to help people communicate with the society in a convenient way. In previous centuries many other kinds of communications have been invented but none became popular as fast as these social networking sites. The concern about privacy on the Internet is increasingly becoming an issue of international dispute. Social networking sites are becoming a root cause for so many problems like it is limiting our privacy, creation of fake id's is becoming a popular trend among teenagers and adults, malwares and phishing links are becoming vulnerable and undoubtedly, these sites are wasting our precious time.

Privacy at home, on the phone or over the Internet is impossible to achieve. Every three seconds there is someone out there attempting to steal our identity. The reason behind this is very simple. Through social networking we can communicate not only with the people we know personally but with those too who live on the other side of the globe. So a question arises and that is, "Is it safe to use these social networking sites?" This question aroused from the fact that with every invention (which was basically invented for peace and convenience), some of the misuses are also invented. So, the case of social networking is not an exception to that.

Facebook and twitter are two of the most popular social networking sites around the globe and none of us is aware about the news about frauds with the help of these sites. Undoubtedly, these crimes are always done by the unknown people whom we meet via these social networks. The criminals or hackers firstly win the trust of their victims and then utilize this trust to extract some basic personal information. They just hack the primary e-mail address of the victim and then the playground is all theirs. Criminals can capture information online in various ways, but one distinguishing factor is that in some cases you give them the information yourself and sometimes criminals use technology to steal your personal information without your knowledge. From this e-mail address they can know the passwords and pins of the bank accounts, credit cards and more. However, as the days are passing, these crimes are increasing and as a result our privacy is getting on the verge of insecurity:

In June 2007, TNS Canadian Facts released the results of a poll of 1,627 Canadian Internet users thirteen years of age and older. The poll found that 53 percent of Canadians had visited social networking sites. (Peterson, Eaton)

One of the main drawbacks of social networking sites is that it is as easy to make an account as to chew a chewing gum. People from all backgrounds and social character status can use them easily. It is just like a child's play. This leads to a great insecurity on these sites. We never know whom we are dealing with. Anyone can pretend to be a nice person and can misuse our trust. Even the people we know personally can act bad and back stab us on social networks. So while using these sites one should be alert and careful that not all other users are well-educated or well mannered. Nowadays, most people are habitual to these social networking sites. Therefore, it is becoming hard to think how to protect ourselves from