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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?
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.
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
I see, so the true Ultimate Question is "What is the % of web users who sneak onto other online accounts?"
Ha! take that Vogons..
So put /home on an encrypted partition and pay attention to your system logs so you know if the machine got shut down while you were away. I think if you're living with a partner who is willing to physically mess with your machines just to read your e-mail, you have bigger problems than keeping your passwords safe anyway.
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 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.
OTOH if you live with a partner and you do not trust them in so far as that you have to do all those steps, you also have bigger problems.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.