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How Much Is Your Online Identity Worth?

Posted by timothy on from the probably-worth-more-as-meat dept.

itwbennett writes "Answer a few questions about your personal Internet use, and a new tool from Symantec will calculate your net worth on the black market. You'll get three results: how much your online assets are worth, how much your online identity would sell for on the black market, and your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. The tool is intended to raise consumer awareness about cybercrime, said Marian Merritt, Internet security advocate for Symantec. It's unlikely the average consumer would read an Internet Security Threat Report, she added, but a simply illustrated example might get the same point across. 'It's shocking how little value criminals place on your credit card,' she said."

7 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Not working for me. by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Funny

    I used this tool, but it didn't turn out so well. The first question was, "To calculate your worth, please provide your SSN and online banking username and password." Unfortunately, when I clicked "Next", it's lagging and I can't get through to the next part...

    1. Re:Not working for me. by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Funny as your comment was intended, I stopped the questionary when it asked how much my total bank accounts were worth.

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  2. Slashvertising at its best. by jittles · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This tool is nothing but a giant slashvertisement, though I suppose that should be obvious. It was a complete waste of time. Oh and I'm worth $31 online if anyone wants to buy me ;o)

  3. This is advertising FUD, not a useful tool by petes_PoV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Norton Online Risk Calculator, unveiled within a microsite to coincide with the launch of Norton 2010,

    All it does is make people anxious about unmeasurable quantities of unknown worth, arbitrarily estimated in an obscure manner with no basis in fact or reality. Treat it like astrology not security.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  4. Finally an independant price point tool! by burtosis · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was totally overpaying for all that black market info. I went to my dealer and showed him the link, now I save 30%! Thanks Geik^H^H^H^H Symantec!

  5. Can I use this to earn money? by petes_PoV · · Score: 5, Interesting
    By making up online personas and then selling them? Norton reckoned my online worth was $32 - just by clicking on my age range and taking all the other default values. That's about $32 for 30 seconds work. I could do that for a living. It's just a pity that Norton haven't taken this to it's logical conclusion and offered to join up people with onlibe identities and the (other) people who would pay for them.

    Of course, if they did, they'd find that:

    * there was almost no-one willing to pay for this

    * they would pay nothing like the Norton valuation

    and therefore expose the complete and utter BULL behind this mind-numbingly DUMB idea. I'd even be happy for Norton to take a 10% finders fee - I'd still make a pile.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  6. Re:Is it $0.43 or $100? by rhsanborn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It means the criminal would expect to get about $100.00 out of your identity, but they won't pay $100.00 to try and get that value. They have a significant risk, including many identities that just don't work out, and the risk of getting caught. So, they'll only buy the opportunity to use that identity for $0.43.