John McAfee, the godfather of cybersecurity, has just revealed his Social Security Number in a now-deleted tweet that included the photos of his court documents. Shortly after that, posted censured photos with his SSN being hidden.
Stealing your identity
The US government issues an SSN for all of its citizens that want to apply for a job. Generally speaking, this nine-digit code is the most important piece of identification for the country’s citizens.
Recklessly exposing your SSN can lead to identity theft, which can lead to serious consequences. To put this into perspective, this will be enough to open a bank account and put you in debt.
The best security precaution is to memorize your number and keep and keep it in a safe place that would be inaccessible for anyone else. If that sounds too challenging, there is another recommendation — don’t tweet it to almost one million of your Twitter followers.
It might be too late
Even after painstakingly trying to hide his SSN with a pen, the digits remained visible. Third time could be the charm, but McAfee didn’t bother to take more pictures (or use any app that would help him blur the sensitive information)
At least, somebody can use McAfee’s SSN and file his tax returns instead of him.
At least, somebody can use McAfee’s SSN and file his tax returns instead of him.
Arman Shirinyan
Mushumir Butt
Tomiwabold Olajide
