How I Stole Someone’s Identity

Author Herbert Thompson asked some of his acquaintances for permission to break into their online banking accounts using the information about them, their families and acquaintances that is freely available online in blogs, resumes etc and some basic logic. “I decided to conduct an experiment to see how vulnerable people’s accounts are to mining the Web for information. I asked some of my acquaintances, people I know only casually, if with their permission and under their supervision I could break into their online banking accounts. After a few uncomfortable pauses, some agreed. The goal was simple: get into their online banking account by using information about them, their hobbies, their families and their lives freely available online. To be clear, this isn’t hacking or exploiting vulnerabilities, instead it’s mining the Internet for nuggets of personal data. Here’s one case … illustrates a pretty serious weakness that most of us have online.”

How I Stole Someone’s Identity, by Herbert H. Thompson

(via lunchoverIP)

1 Comment leave a comment below

  1. Incredible! Thanks for posting.