EGO Searching, otherwise known as Googling yourself, is a great way to keep track of what of your personal information lives on the internet, so you can then better prepare for how that information might be used against you.

 

Knowing what personal information is out there for other people to find can strongly impact businesses because many different scams can take place using an employee’s information, such as payroll phishing or business email compromises. And if malicious actors can obtain this personal information, such as email addresses, titles, photos, contact information, etc., they can use that to commit fraud against you.

 

What can you do to protect yourself?

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• Request data aggregators remove your information from their database. Most data aggregators have ways to remove your information.

• Use caution when posting on social media. Social media plays a big part in our lives today. MSP and BBB recommend not sharing any personal information on social media and never answer any questionnaires on Facebook. If you do choose to share your personal information, it's essential that you implement proper privacy settings, so only your friends or people that you're directly connected with on social media can see that, and not just anybody on the internet.

 

Other than searching on Google, businesses can search online forums, social media, even the dark web. They can also search online tools, such as Shodan or Censys. These allow businesses to search for network vulnerabilities or devices that are open to the public, such as routers or security cameras. You can better secure your network if you discover any public-facing devices that are easily accessed.

 

 

Learn more about cybersecurity at Michigan.gov/mc3 and bbb.org.