YOUR ONLINE PRIVACY and account related settings

[GreenMachine]

 

Please take extra precautions with how freely you share your personal information online (E-mail, FB, etc).  There has been a recent uptick in what can only be described as data mining on the SSA Web site from locations all over the globe.  They've even taken the added step of creating fictitious accounts on here with the sole intent of cruising through member directories and viewing additional information; phone numbers, addresses, and whatever else is contained within the thousands of SSA pages.
Please review your Profile and hide information you don't want passed around the globe.    Another trick you can employ is to create your own disposable E-mail account just for your online identity.  That way if it gets abused with too much SPAM, just keep making new accounts.

[GreenMachine]

They're still at it today and I'm still at it deleting and banning their sh*t.

[Team Gorgonzola]

Thanks Super-moderator!!! Kick their a$$es

[A DRAGON]

Thanks GM.

[GreenMachine]

They're still at it.  Lots of 24/7 snooping around from U.K. and China.  I've looked into adjusting how the SSA site accepts requests from these snoopers, but I have to update the Web site version first, something I don't have the ability to do at this time.

[GreenMachine]

Had to inform the admin of another forum I'm on that his site had been hacked.  Most of the forum's thread/posts had been compromised, redirecting the unsuspecting Web user to infected third-party Web sites with pop-ups that cannot be exited gracefully.  Their site was allowing users from outside the U.S. to build accounts.  There were upwards of 6,000 users online at any given time, none of which had any business or personal interest on the site.  We were on that same path, with upwards of 900 users online datamining, creating accounts, and otherwise using the site for purposes unrelated to all things SSA.  I gather that one of them eventually compromised that other site.  Hardly unexpected.

Not sure if it's related to Fake anti-virus or ransomware, but I can tell you that the SSA site is far less susceptible.  Our software is as up-to-date as it can be, membership registration would be a challenge for someone not familiar with our local area, and most country-codes outside the U.S. have been blocked.