Think about security when you post!

[Capt. Jon]

This is silly

I less than an hour a person could target most forum users posts, photos, and learn everything available in the public domain.

This is even easier if you are active on several social media platforms. Maybe you share your boating stuff here, other stuff on FB, Linkdin, etc... Putting it all together is not as hard as a person thinks.

When you post, you share little thinbgs about yourself. Photos of your boat, lots of small details that a relativly savy person could use.

Combine those tidbits and it's not hard.

Your security is not from having someone find out who you are, it's from protecting yourself in other ways.

Things like credit monitoring services, password diversity, home and business security, etc...

Fortunately property crimes are almost always crimes of opportunity and are committed by druggies, so your risk of that kind of crime emanating from here are very slim.

That said identity theft is VERY real, and is something that is entirely online.
That is where your credit monitoring service comes into play.

I have been a victim of identity theft and the source was not from a forum, it was from a data leak at a previous employer.

? So Right!

 

[OldDan1943]

Defender Inc recently sent me an email indicating they had a data leak.

 

[wkearney99]

If you're concerned about picture metadata, and use a PC, there's a handy tool that strips metadata, and has a drag-and-drop feature.

JPEG & PNG Stripper - www.SteelBytes.com

It's easy to use, and has options to preserve file timestamps.

I don't use it on the original pictures. Most cameras take much higher resolution pictures than useful for online posting.

I'm still a hold-out using a PC-based picture program. Even though Google obsoleted it, picasa is still a great program for picture management. In this context it's 'export' feature is great, as it gives the option to select a much lower resolution for exports.

I can then drag-and-drop the whole exports folder onto the stripper program and it'll remove all the location and camera info from every picture in the folder. Repeated use is fine. And it's fast, too. So rather than worry about if I've missed a picture, I just drag the whole 'exports' folder onto it and let it run through all of the again.

I wouldn't use it on the original picture files as it's sometimes useful to be able to search by location or other metadata.

 

[wkearney99]

There is a big difference between being a troll and figuring out where someone lives, personal information, and sending them threatening, terrorizing, communications. The former is being an asshat, the later is committing crimes...

It's a fine line. A friend of mine is a fairly visible figure for a software company, and arguably one of THE most decent people I've ever met. He helped an interested developer using their product, and the requests kept getting more and more intrusive. Eventually leading to my friend having to contract with lawyers to file complaints in both in his location AND that of the unwelcome individual. Lots of problematic 'crossing of boundaries' including unwelcome contact based on searched contact info (friends, family, neighbors). The steps he had to take (and the money spent) seem to have resolved the situation effectively for now.

So it's a tough balance to strike, between being accessible and hiding out like some crazed doomsday prepper.

 

[drb1025]

Your AIS position is also available to the world. Do you consider that a big security risk?

 

[OldDan1943]

I was told by the company who sold and installed my AIS, do not post a pic of your boat in AIS

 

[psneeld]

Of all the stuff to fear in life......

Just be careful and think......

Paranoid or on high alert is no way to go through life outside of work.

Fortunately my life has forced me to own little, secure a few investments and keep my home and property or of little value with me for this phase of my life.

 

[smitty477]

You know all those strangers at businesses you give all your information to when you attempt to use their customer service? Them. You know all the strangers at the bank who have access to ALL your information? Them. Who are these people?
Most thefts are inside jobs. The most successful thief (before internet)I’ve ever met (knew him from elementary school) was a very trusted head of security for a Security Company. Nobody ever suspected him because real thieves don’t look like the ones on TV. He had all the keys, and all the codes. He retired with no one ever being the wiser. His wife hasn’t a clue to his adventures.
Now you have kids sitting In Thailand, N.Vietnam, and Eastern Europe on their laptops who are experts in hacking major computer networks. Even their bosses at major Tech Companies think they’re living in America at the addresses they gave when hired (in face interviews in the tech world hasn’t been a thing for decades) years ago. Them.
Remember Goodfellas? “What about the security.” -I am the security!”, as he jingled the keys. What you need to worry about are the dudes high on drugs, who DON’T think things out in advance. I visit people at their ground level homes who talk about their security systems. I’m like “I could throw this wrought iron patio chair through your plate glass and be in, and on you in your bedroom, before you had time to sit up in your bed”. I would never live on a first floor anywhere. I’ve had fishing poles stolen off my flybridge when I was down below. Afterwards “yeah, I do remember a boat slowing down, and a little motion like someone stepping on a railing”. But in 2014 I had my 4788 stolen from my dock in Miami in broad daylight. I got it back myself because I had a feeling where he was heading. The police and Coast Guard were 100% useless. I called the Tow Boat companies and they put out a BOLO, and received a call back within minutes of “just saw it heading up the Miami River” to exactly where I was already driving. Caught the guy getting ready to put it in his slings, and put it next to all the other big boats he had covered with tarps”. 911 had me on hold for over 20 minutes, so instead decided to make friends with this guy because having friends with balls that big, is worth having in ones. Rolodex. He had done his homework, and last saw the boat being registered in Mississippi, so figured “Owners is out of state”. He said “Coast Guard? I just waved at them as I passes within 100’ of them, as I passed them in the turning basin. They waved back”. When I called them hours earlier to report the theft, with likelihood of it heading towards the cruise ships I could see in port, they told me to “call back tomorrow”. Good thing the bottom was fouled with bottom growth, or he would had gotten away. So that’s ONE good reason not to regularly clean your running gear.

"But in 2014 I had my 4788 stolen from my dock in Miami in broad daylight. I got it back myself because I had a feeling where he was heading. The police and Coast Guard were 100% useless. I called the Tow Boat companies and they put out a BOLO, and received a call back within minutes of “just saw it heading up the Miami River” to exactly where I was already driving. Caught the guy getting ready to put it in his slings, and put it next to all the other big boats he had covered with tarps”"
Very interesting - we had the exact same types of boats for over 25 years and never had a problem. Our boat was not kept at a dock but at a mooring in thge harbor. On the rare occasions where there is a problem in the harbors here many LEO's respond very quickly including the USCG.
Even more fortunate as our running gear was never fouled.
YMMV

 

[SteveK]

LOL, if someone knows my paypal account password, please tell me.

I thought it was "paypal". Stand by I will check

 

[SteveK]

LOL

I have my navigation computer at home, because it sat unused over the winter, then this spring, because it was programmed to update itself and had missed out, it updated and needs now to be restarted, using a password that I don't know. Now I am using its predecessor, whose password I know. If someone knows the password that I need please let me know. I will accept it published here. It never was a secret. I like it more than its predecessor, as it has a much bigger screen.

Most, if not all online passwords have a forgot password reset feature. It sends an email to you to reset. Or are you kidding?