Is your child’s phone a distraction at school? Learn why schools are taking extreme measures like phone confiscation and how a simple rule change might be the solution you didn’t see coming.
A classic Facebook scam is still going strong - Don't fall for it
If you have spent time on social media over the last few years, you probably know your villain name, which Disney character you are most similar to, or how well your friends know you. Here’s another quiz you should take: Which generation has the worst password habits?
These whimsical quizzes and questionnaires can be an excellent distraction from daily realities. But if the Cambridge Analytica scandal taught us anything, it’s that information divulged online can be used against you.
It might seem to be harmless fun but read on to see why you need to think twice before taking those social media quizzes.
Here’s the backstory
Have you ever stopped to think about the information you freely put out on social media? We’re not talking about uploading photos or linking to a personal blog. We specifically refer to the multitude of quizzes on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
For instance, in one quiz spotted on Twitter, you correlate your birth month and birthday from the selection to get the answer to “What’s your horror hostname?” That quiz is relatively mundane, but others are more intricate.
Their problem is not that our horror hostname is “Collector of Villainy,” but that it is easy to disseminate the information. It would be quick for someone else to work out the precise details of your answer and collect more information than you intended to share.
Depending on the quiz type, you could reveal your birthday, favorite color, pet’s name, the first letter of your mother’s name, where you live and so on. These answers are often found in account recovery or password retrieval.
See the problem? If hackers wanted to target you through phishing attacks or brute force, they could go through your social media quizzes to learn more about you. Chances are, they will come across some information that could help them.
What you can do about it
The easiest way to ensure that you don’t share sensitive information is not to take the quiz. Instead, you could work out the answer for yourself and have a giggle, but resist the urge to share it on social media.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has also warned against these questionnaires and sharing the results. “These are common security questions for insurance, banking and credit card accounts. Social media data and quiz answers can be used to steal your identity or enable a scammer to impersonate you,” the BBB explained.
18 people die after lightning strikes - Here’s why you shouldn’t risk everything for a selfie
Only a few professional photographers have managed to capture a truly astonishing selfie. That doesn’t prevent everyone with access to a camera or smartphone from attempting to get the perfect shot.
Unfortunately, many have taken the art of selfies a step too far. Sadly, several people have died trying to reach secluded spots or dangerous locations. In October 2018, a couple fell to their death from Taft Point at Yosemite National Park. Two months before that, another teen fell while trying to take a selfie in Yosemite.
Distracted? Block out the noise with this focused writing app
Life online never slows down, and if you babysit your phone or computer you’re sure to see notifications roll in. From Windows to emails to instant messages to social media and more, so many apps and services are constantly vying for our attention. Ever wish you could just focus and get some writing done? Well, you’re in luck, because we’ve found the perfect free writing app that helps cuts down on distractions.