Video by INQUIRER.net’s Matikas Santos
MANILA, Philippines—Without Filipino netizens knowing, their identity and personal information could already have been stolen by cybercriminals through their social network profiles or accounts.
An online survey on the social networking habits of Filipinos conducted by computer security company Trend Micro found that 63 percent of respondents share their date of birth, 82 percent their full name, and 42 percent their personal email address.
“Full name and date of birth are among the details financial institutions most use for verification of transactions,” Trend Micro said in a statement Wednesday regarding the results of their survey.
“Yet, it is the top two pieces of personal information easily available on social networks,” it said.
The survey conducted July 2013 with 396 respondents, also found that almost 24 percent voluntarily gave personal information in exchange for alleged discounts, coupons, and getting more friends or followers.
As much as 37 percent gave their personal information to be able to join raffle draws online, the study found.
Myla Pilao, director Core Technology of TrendLabs Marketing, said that cybercriminals steal personal information to sell in the black market or to customize or tailor attacks based on a person’s profile.
While stealing or “harvesting” information is just the first step, “their ultimate goal is to get money from you,” she said.
Myla Pilao, director Core Technology of TrendLabs Marketing. INQUIRER.NET/MATIKAS SANTOS
“Sharing too much information means you become very, very vulnerable,” Pilao added. Cybercriminals do their profiling based on the information they got which they use to “customize their attack.”
The Philippines is in second place after Brazil when it comes to Facebook reach with 92.2 percent, which shows how comfortable Filipinos are with being online.
“Filipinos are now very comfortable doing shopping online, and online banking,” Pilao said during the launch of Trend Micro’s latest PC and mobile device security program Titanium 2014.
For example, information about a person’s PayPal account could sell for $10 in the black market, she said.
Andrew Tan, consumer product marketing manager for Southeast Asia, said malicious apps that steal personal information hit the one million mark three months earlier than expected, which is by the end of 2013.
Pilao advised Filipino netizens to be more careful about what information they provide online to prevent cybercriminals from stealing their personal information or of those around them such as family and friends.
“We need to be really conscious of what we share online. Remember whatever is online will stay online forever,” she said.
She said that their new Titanium 2014 security software available for PCs, Macs, and mobile gadgets have features that are integrated with social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter and GooglePlus.
Users would be able to see how their privacy settings are configured in those social networks so they can make adjustments to limit how public their posts are, Pilao said.
The software also has real-time URL scanning so that any links that a user comes across, whether in a website or social networking sites, will be checked if it directs to suspected malicious webpages.