Porn name game - is it fun or a live Phishing exercise?

by Steve Ragan - May 12 2009, 21:29

A new Twitter game has appeared over the last 24 hours, whereby users are encouraged to create their own special porn name by merging bits of information about themselves and creating their own special XXX moniker. However, while the game passes time, creates memorable names, and has caused a spike in trending on Twitter, some users are leaving themselves at risk.

Games like 'porn name', or viral lists of 10, 15, 25 or 50 things to like or dislike about someone, are a given on any social network. However, the associated risk comes from the information being solicited. In the Twitter example, some people were honest without thinking and gave up their pet’s name, their street name, first teacher’s name, and more.

The problem is that some of the information used is the same as users would select for resetting a password on any one of hundreds of online sites. Adding to that initial concern is the fact that, once posted to Twitter, the information will remain online for a very long time.

"In the past, Sarah Palin, Paris Hilton, and Salma Hayek have all had their private email accounts compromised by hackers guessing their secret answers," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"People who freely share personal information online are leaving themselves open to these kinds of attacks," he added. "What's more, with a recent Sophos poll revealing that a third of computer users are using the same log-in information across all their online accounts - computer users could quickly find that they are putting more at risk than they realize."  

Now, some of the users who played the porn name game caught on and lied while playing, which is both good and bad. Good because the information is false, bad because they still played the game. The best advice would be to completely avoid any games that require information on a personal level. However, that’s no fun, so when you play them, think about what you're being asking and if you really want that information to be exposed online.

Another aspect to information risk has nothing to do with games. Searching for common questions on Google ('my first pet' or 'I went to college at') can yield some interesting results. While the research aspect is not new, the countless amounts of blogs with information, articles, comments, even remarks on Yahoo Answers, show that it’s still a popular trend to offer up information in passing.

The trick is to ensure that you never use information you are willing to share as a method of security.

I grew up in a large city, my first pet was Thor, he was a solid black cat, my favorite teacher was Nancy Flores, and I have two sons, Dom and Ray. None of that information is ever used for secret questions. Honestly, I lie on those forms and keep with the lie. I don’t care what the question asks, my answer is one of seven items, and no one knows them, or the information related to it.

As for my porn name, it’s Thor Nancy... clearly I’m not going to appear in an adult film any time soon.

The Tech Herald: Personal information and how to protect it

The Tech Herald: Passwords - friend or foe?

The Tech Herald: Palin hack highlights important e-mail risks

 

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