Slashdot Mirror
42% of Web Users Sneak Onto Others' Online Accounts
An anonymous reader writes "In an online survey, 42 percent of Internet users admitted to logging into other people's email and social networking accounts without their knowledge. The poll doesn't ask if passwords were found, granted, or stolen — which would make for further interesting results. The write-up summarizing the results defines the respondents as part of an "educated tech-readership" and questions the ethics of logging onto someone else's account, and whether those differ depending on the person and relationship."
or "auto-saved" in their web browser.
but it did take me some time so this is not Frist Post.
I'm actually the one who posted this story.
wwrmn molests kittens and has been known to punch puppies.
until ( $win ) { &cheat }
It just seems bizarre to me how many people think it's normal to give out their password to family/friends/partners/whatever. I've never revealed a password to anyone in my life and never will, and my really important ones get changed regularly. Is that really so terribly unusual?
is significantly different than "without their permission." One might be given account/password info for good cause, but the account holder may not be aware of every access. That would constitute "without their knowledge," but implies no impropriety.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
I knew this chick who got her boyfriend's password by looking over his shoulder. She used it well after their relationship ended, out of some mix of jealousy, spite, and hope that they'd be together again. She would make letters from other girls disappear, know when to make inconvenient calls/appearances, and whatever else it is that a manipulative, batshit insane, ex-girlfriend does. It was pretty funny. Point is, I suspect most breaches of passwords are of this sort of nature rather than really sensitive commercial stuff, so it's all lulz and it's all good.
My ex used to get mad because I absolutely refused to give her any of my passwords besides my WPA password. She didn't understand security at all. Later I found out she had been reading her boss' private email -- I"m glad I don't trust anyone. Always log out of public computers, never allow them to store private information. It's a good idea to clear private data or reset the browser on public computers as well. If you live with other people or have guest over you should password protect your computer.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
I'm calling bullshit on this one. 42%? yeah right. Maybe parents checking up on their kid's habits but even then I can't see almost _half_ of the world's internet users using another person's account.
But that's the thing, the poll doesn't infer that it's all web users, just people that visit that website. The write up is incorrect.
This is so lame I'm having a hard time not laughing. Is this the best we can get? How does this tripe pass the test to be posted on slashdot, and not in the idle section?
Had a girlfriend who turned out to be promiscuous. She used the same password for everything, or a very small variation. (1-2 characters)
I helped her out with her bills from time to time, and upon returning to Afghanistan (after a horrible R&R due to her promiscuity) I mass-messaged everyone on her Yahoo Messenger with a message that accurately portrayed her character resulting in some fun phone calls for her.
I believe that this was very ethical and appropriate for the relationship. The other option of over-drafting her checking account by paying her credit card would have been extreme.
does bugmenot count?
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Like all surveys that want to portray a 'shocking' result, it all comes down to the wording of the questions. It is very easy to get a respondent to tick yes on a question that asks "do you log in to other people's accounts" by first baiting them with a whole bunch of rubbish like "do you help others with their IT issues" and so on.
Without the actual survey, the results are, in my opinion, just as good as made up.
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
Well, they also say that 75% of all statistics are made up...
Joking aside, there's something to be said for ethics. Sure, I know tons of passwords. But I would never use them without permission or for a reason other than what they were given to me for.
I see, so the true Ultimate Question is "What is the % of web users who sneak onto other online accounts?"
Ha! take that Vogons..
I once had to do this. Some idiot on MySpace set their account to use one of my email addresses. Repeated requests to Myspace went unanswered, so I just used the password recovery tool to change it and promptly deleted his account. Problem solved.
This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
Which one of you got hold of CmdrTaco's password and posted all these lame stories?
Have gnu, will travel.
I wish people would stop using Anonymous Coward's account. He doesn't even have a password!
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
Backup your database. Often.
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
I can't believe this. They say that 42% of the people that they asked had used another person's password or account. And the people asked are all internet users.
It is a logical fault to assume from these two statements that 42% of all internet users have used another person's password or account for unethical purposes.
What was the sample audience? Were they all students simply using each other's common passwords to peek into each other's love notes? The article gives that impression and then posts a headline that implies that 42% of ALL INTERNET USERS are dangerous highly-advanced techno-crackers who can and would empty your bank account at any time that they would choose.
Another example of deliberate media exaggeration and fear-mongering over an activity that, when examined, turns out to be a whole lot of nothing. Is Fox News behind this? Or just some schmuck desperate for a story to file?
Crying wolf destroys the perception of journalistic integrity for everyone.
Since 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything, wouldn't it also follow that 42% is the universal statistic?
At my job, we have a secure database where each person has their own credentials to get in. As a troubleshooter for my work site, I have an administrative set of credentials that allows me to access everyone's records in case they run into problems that they want me to fix. The system logs changes to the records, so if they change something it tracks to them, and if I change something in their records it tracks to me.
My administrative credentials are not under my control, i.e. I can't set my own password. The people at the next level up can do this, but I cannot.
This seems wrong to me, but when I try and explain this to people they don't see the same issue that I do. Namely, a password is pointless if someone else knows it. Whatever my superiors can do with my login, they can just as well do with theirs. I've known them for a while and have no reason to suspect any malfeasance, but that's not how you design security.
My sister is in a similar situation at her work where the IT department determines everyone's passwords. I was trying to convince her that this was less than ideal, and she just boggled at me. She works in politics and there's a lot of potential for spying from a rival party. If IT sets and can retrieve anyone's password (which they can in this instance), they could easily frame someone else for this kind of espionage by impersonating them. That's not to mention that if passwords are stored someplace on the system in an easily readable format, that's certainly a flaw in the security design.
Maybe I'm alarmed over nothing, but I don't think so.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
It's not really 42% -- 50% of the ones who answered the survey was actually the same person logging into 21% of the accounts.
I think those numbers are high, but I can understand it if they aren't. They mirror the divorce rate numbers.
Here's my tale of woe:
I feel horrible. I broke my own morals during my divorce. My ex threatened to have a PI follow me and just having that possibility hanging over my head ate away at me. I can justify it, but it still wasn't right...I gained access to her emails just to see if she was spying on me...it sucked.
All it did for me was make me feel worse about myself.
To anyone thinking about doing the same, I strongly recommend not doing it. Even if it wasn't against the law, nothing good is going to come from it. It won't make breaking up easier.
Over the years I've had many people come up to me and ask me how to do such things, I've always told them not to try....for one thing it isn't admissible in court and another it won't make you feel any better.
I know...I've been there and done it...I regret it and wish I could undo it. Now I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life. A divorce is a major life event and emotions run high.
My one advice for anyone going through a divorce is to not do anything that you will feel bad about years later and by that I mean don't break any moral codes that you would have had during the good years.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain