Browsing by Author "Michau, Nicola"
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- ItemIdentity theft risk quantification for social media users(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Michau, Nicola; Bekker, James; Bekker, James; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The information era has made it di cult to protect and secure one's personal information. One such struggle is that of identity theft, a crime that has caused great su ering to its victims. O enders guilty of the crime use the identities of their victims for the purpose of entertainment or fraud. Social media has extended the capability of people to interact and share information, but without the appropriate guidelines to protect individuals from becoming victims of identity theft. There is a lack of studies on identity theft and its determinants. The purpose of the research is therefore to assist with the prevention of identity theft by determining the effect that information-sharing on social media has on the risk of individuals becoming identity theft victims. The details of reported identity theft victims were collected from the South African Fraud Prevention Services. Data on individuals' information-sharing habits on social media networks, like Facebook and LinkedIn, was collected via surveys that were sent to a relevant group at the Stellenbosch University. It was found that the two variables, Age and Gender, were the greatest predictors of identity theft victims. A prediction model was developed that serves as a tool to score individuals as high-risk or low-risk victims according to their attributes and social media information-sharing habits. The findings benefit research on the prevention of identity theft, by raising awareness of the potential risks the sharing of sensitive data on social media has.