At our funeral home website, we have had our share of inappropriate postings and other mischief with the online guestbook and virtual candles. There's always soemone with too much time on their hands to come along and make little messes.
However, I had no idea the lengths some online hackers would go to use deaths as a means to spread computer viruses and spyware. According to a December 4th article in the New York Times, hackers will create phony websites with information about the death and links to online "videos" which do not in fact exist, all so the unsuspecting will click on a link which causes spyware to download onto the computer.
We worried about "Big Brother" for so long, how the government would take over our privacy. Yet the internet exposes us to millions of other very individual and private (as opposed to governmental) losses of personal privacy and personal freedom.
Follow the link to the complete article.
NYTimes.com: Hacking Rings Take Advantage of Death in Boston
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