Protecting Your Good Name – Social Networking Awareness and Identity Theft Precautions

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

206 Bowen-Thompson Student Union

1 hour presentation with ½ hour for follow-up questions

Presentation Description:

It’s Your Name – and it’s yours to protect.  At a time when there are daily reports of crimes of identity theft, how do you protect yourself?  How can information you share on social networking sites be harmful?  How can you effectively use these sites to communicate while still protecting your identity?  If you work in an area that handles sensitive data, what considerations and “red flags” should you look for? What precautions can you take in cyberspace to minimize the risk of becoming a victim?

FBI agents will approach these questions by providing precautions everyone should take to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.  The presentation will discuss the methods commonly used by criminals to obtain personal information, it will provide tips on how to keep your private information from falling into the wrong hands and also describe action steps you need to take if you become a victim of identity fraud.  During their presentation, they will be able to relate instances of actual identity theft cases and the lessons learned from these crimes.  The presentation will provide “food for thought” in terms of how seemingly harmless pieces of information shared on social network sites can eventually make you a victim of identity theft or how the information shared can have an impact on a college student’s future career.

Protecting Your Good Name – Social Networking Awareness and Identity Theft Precautions is presented as a part of National CyberSecurity Awareness Month and is sponsored by the Information Security Office in the Office of the CIO.  All interested students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to attend this free presentation.

CyberSecurity Awareness @ BGSU