A SHORT MOVIE IS WORTH A LENGTHY SPEECH…
More and more often, examples of people who are victim of identity theft or their personal data being fraudulently used, as a result of unfortunate information publishing on media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Viadeo, Twitter, etc. are presented in colloquia. We do not always consider experts’ recommendation, usually considering “it only happens to others”… A short educational film sometimes is worth a lengthy speech, you might be interested in
watching the following short video: https://youtu.be/F7pYHN9iC9I
Posted on 2012 by the “Febelin Academy asbl” training institute, a partner of the Belgian bank industry*, this video has unfortunately passed a little unnoticed for 3 years now. It however aims to show that, unless we pay careful attention, “your whole personal life is online and it could be turned against you». The video displays randomly chosen individuals on the street but, it must be recalled, companies are made of individuals of different ages, sex and responsibilities, not less vulnerable to the social networks hazard. The border line is thin between the individual not protecting his private life and posting personal data (pictures, age, date and place of birth, diplomas, employer and functions, address, car, friends and parents names, etc.) and a company’s contributor who will see that same information be turned against him/her, and hence against the company he/she works for: phishing, targeted attacks, etc. It is to recall that economic intelligence (the legal counterpart of industrial espionage) most of the time follows the OSINT model: Open Source INTelligence**! This raises the issue, which might explain some recent cyber attacks on companies, organizations or media: how could a company trust an employee who is not careful with protecting his/her personal data, whereas he or she usually stores professional data on his/her (BYOD) cellphone or tablet? Must it also be recalled that, almost all free mobile apps automatically get access to the full cellphone contact list, which doesn’t give us any reassuring idea of its potential use. It is then important for every company or organization to draft a behavior agreement for its contributors to cope with IT tools (mobile or not), Internet and social networks and media. The biggest firms have already done it, in addition to some administrations, such as the French ministry of defense***, but it remains imperative for every employer to be aware and raise his/her employees’ awareness about the dangers threatening the company without IT hygiene. Mindef’s strong message, in its pedagogical guide, states that: “Not all recipients of your posted messages are caring individuals”! This statement perfectly applies to the corporate world. Some contributors do not always realize they might, by unintentionally or by mistakenly exposing themselves, derogate from their labor contract and thus put their employer in an embarrassing position. This video is then a part of this caution plan.
* https://www.febelfin-academy.be/fr
** http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renseignement_d%27origine_source_ouverte
*** http://www.defense.gouv.fr/guide-medias-sociaux/telecharger.pdf
