Why we should be careful about our Internet identity The Internet as a whole has changed the way the world works, in turn changing the way security works. With the Internet, global communications are now at America's fingertips. These security changes directly affect most of America. The main area I want to look at is social media, the dominant center of America. Social media is so common these days that some kids are asking for social media accounts for Christmas! Facebook reached over a billion users earlier this year, Twitter reached 218 million, and even newer sites like Pinterest reached 70 million users by mid-2013. This is clearly a popular trend that isn't going away. With so many users, these social media sites will quickly become attack vectors for black hat hackers, if they aren't already. According to an article from HR Focus, with social media sites, the risk of attack increases with the total number of users. users that this site receives. Social media has become the biggest threat to the protection of proprietary and confidential information. (HR Focus) Social media sites have grown to allow custom applications to be created and run within the site itself. This is especially true with sites like Facebook, which host many games created by other users. These games usually access your personal information to give you profiles, which keep track of your stats, your village, or whatever the game is for. But what happens if someone makes a request for the sole purpose of collecting your information? Users don't think about such things happening on Facebook. There is a supposed trust on Facebook that they won't take your information, which is why social media is such a huge attack vector for black hat hackers......... middle of paper. ....., remains on the Internet accessible to the whole world. We can't think of it as a faraway place where we can do whatever we want without any real consequences. Employers almost always check potential employees' social media sites. Law enforcement uses social media to confirm or deny certain accusations. Black hat hackers are pushing further to exploit social media and any other online system to get their hands on your information, your identity and exploit it. As a global community, we must together be aware of what we place and do on the Internet, because it could one day come back to bite us. Works Cited “Why security may be the final challenge for social media use.” » HR Focus 87.6 (2010): 145. ProQuest. Internet. December 12, 2013. Wienke, Sarah. “Social media presents businesses with opportunities and risks.” Missouri Lawyers Media, November 23, 2009. ProQuest. Internet. December 12. 2013.