Seriously, stop sharing vaccine cards on social networks

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He claimed that it would be difficult to fool him on the basis of everything on the card: “What deception will you give me with only knowing my name and my birthday? Unless you sign up for free cups of ice cream on your birthday and you don’t give them to me in this case, yes, it’s very serious. ”

But it wasn’t just his birthday that was listed. The card displayed medically sensitive information, including the batch number of vaccines, the location of the clinic, and the brand of vaccination received. And for some people, the card contains even more.

As the Covid vaccine spreads to more people across the country, we lost track of the number of vaccine information cards we saw on social media and chat apps. While selfies are being encouraged as a way to express the joy of being vaccinated and conveying that people are doing their part to stop the spread of Covid-19, several government agencies have warned of the risks of posting online. of vaccine card images.
“Think of it this way – identity theft works like a jigsaw puzzle, made up of personal information. You don’t want to give identity thieves the pieces they need to finish the picture,” the Federal Trade Commission said in a post on the blog last month. “Once identity thieves have the parts they need, they can use the information to open new accounts in your name, claim a tax refund for themselves, and engage in other identity theft.”

Cybersecurity experts say they are unaware of the specific hacks or scams specific to vaccine cards – although the roots of identity theft are hard to find. But some have said that these security threats will be easy to enforce.

For now, it’s largely “speculation, but plausible,” according to Mark Ostrowski, chief engineer of cybersecurity company Check Point Software. “We will have hundreds of millions of people vaccinated. If the history of cyber attacks repeats itself, these threatening actors or crooks will try to find a way to take advantage of this situation.”

At the same time, there have been a number of Covid-19 scams, from people pretending to be Covid-19 contact detectors to fake websites that promise vaccination schedules.
Many of us (including my publisher included) may be desensitized to the risks, given how much information we assume is already available online about us – either because we posted it ourselves, were collected from public data, or because that they were thrown as part of a previous security breach. But Rachel Tobac, an ethical hacker specializing in social engineering, said one of the biggest concerns about the vaccine card trend is that information is visible in one place and easy to access.

“Displaying an unedited vaccination card, unfortunately, makes it much easier for a criminal to target a certain person,” she said. In some cases, a person’s medical card number is listed on the card. “To have access to sensitive medical records by phone, with the medical record number, first name and date of birth – all listed on the vaccination card – are all I need to authenticate as that person and to have access to details sensitive. “

A cyber criminal could try to impersonate you and call your healthcare company to find out about your medical history or diagnoses, cancel future procedures, change prescription doses, and more.

With or without a medical record number, she said, vaccine cards could also allow a hacker to carry out a phishing scheme to steal data and passwords. With the batch number of the vaccine you received or the location of the shot, they could falsify the e-mail address of that facility with a message about, for example, a remember that I urged you to click on a link, supposed to reschedule an updated dose, but really intended to take your information.

This doesn’t mean you should ignore any emails you receive about the vaccine, but it’s a good reminder to pay attention to the links you click with any email on any topic and make sure the sender is who I say they that they are.

People who are more in the public eye, whether they are influencers, celebrities, or journalists like my editor, pose a greater threat because criminals are more likely to target them. Their free theft of ice cream for their birthday would be just the beginning.

“There are all sorts of issues with potential identity theft,” said Michela Menting, a cybersecurity research director at consulting firm ABI Research. “Individuals should be just as careful when posting vaccine record information as they are when it comes to posting credit card numbers online.”

My editor claims that he posted his vaccine card online only because it was distributed privately to his followers, but security experts have long said that the people most likely to commit identity theft are friends and family. .

This does not mean that people should reduce the celebration of the vaccine on social networks together. Safer options include cutting out details on a card or the option for a selfie. Some vaccination sites distribute stickers, just like the ones voters receive at election polls. Take a photo while wearing the sticker receives the same message without security risk.

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