Someone I know the other day was actively engaged in one of those innocent quizzes that propagate Facebook. This particular quiz challenged you on how many generations you could go back, listing all of the maiden names of both side of the family. The purpose of the quiz was to see how knowledgeable you are about your family lineage versus your friends. It was also suggested that there might be a remote chance that you might be related at some of the other quiz participants.
Quizzes and games such as these are quite popular on major social media sites such as Facebook. Months ago during the week of the Royal Wedding, an innocent game made the rounds of Facebook. It encouraged people to use their royal wedding guest name for the week of the festivities and place it in their status. Users were asked to create their royal wedding guest name using the following format:
(Lord or Lady) + (Name of your first pet) + (Name of the street you grew up on). An example might by Lord Buddy Elm or Lady Max Washington.
A common quiz that appears on Facebook and other social media sites asks you to reminisce about your first concert. It often asks how old you were when you attended your first concert and who you saw then. There are many nostalgic quizzes like this on social media. A popular one that is forwarded on Facebook a lot, asking you to list your first car and share your best memory about it. Another popular question that appears often asks what the name of your high school mascot was.
Chances are you have seen one or more of these types of postings on Facebook or other social media site as they are perpetually forwarded and seem to have a life of their own. If you are not active on Social media, then you may recall seeing some of these questions on another website, probably one of your financial institution sites such as the bank that hosts your checking account. That is because these are common security questions used by institutions or social media sites to reset your password. They are serve as a second factor type of authentication. Nearly everyone has been asked one of these before:
- What is your mother’s maiden name?
- What was the make and model of your first car?
- What was the first concert you attended?
- What was the name of the street you grew up on?
If you have never thought about how those Facebook and social media quizzes conspicuously emulate those same security questions you are forced to answer occasionally to access your online accounts, you should. Hackers and cybercriminals do, and they constantly mine Facebook to collect the data they need to access and take over online accounts of others. Some of these quizzes are even created by hackers themselves in order to harvest personal data to implement credential attacks. Not all of these quizzes are created with malicious intent however. Many of them are generated with well-meaning intentions by everyday people as a way engage users with one another. Some are created by businesses as a way to employ attention for themselves. One example was an auto repair shop in California that asked the question, “What car did you learn to drive stick shift on?” Though asked a different way, the result is the same answer as the straightforward question asking for the make and model. In the case of the royal wedding post mentioned earlier, no one knows who made it or how it came to be.
The problem is that in an era in which our information is so digitally connected and integrated with our online lives, volunteering personal information exposes us. Even when these quizzes are created legitimately, the answers to them remain there online for years; allowing AI integrated bots to data mine them. While these quizzes may seem cute, silly or a way to simply fill time up, those that partake in them are willingly providing more information about themselves and their family than they should, putting them at risk.
While there is nothing wrong with participating in quizzes and games on your favorite social media site, there are some simple rules you should abide by when participating in social media.
- Always be skeptical! Don’t take a quiz unless you know who first created it and know that it is a respected and credible source
- Never volunteer or reveal personal information or facts about yourself.
- Never give your email addresses to any organization unless you totally trust them.
- Remove personal details from your profile such as your contact information and address
- Adjust your privacy settings to hide personal information from anyone you are not connected with and even then be strict about what you share.
- Never give answers to questions that emulate security questions such as those involving your mother’s maiden name, past street addresses, name of your high school, location of your first job, etc.
- Don’ accept friend requests from people you do not know
