Internet behavioural education

Facebook: 1.26 billion users; Twitter: 500 million

Gmail: 425 million users (but Google+ only 343 – interesting, actually) and Outlook.com 400 million

WhatsApp: 300 million

LinkedIn: 238 million

Skydrive: 250 million

Shazam: 350, Spotify: 24, eBay: 120, Instagram: 150, Flickr: 87, Netflix: 38 million

Even Paypal (the payment platform: note – it’s about money!) has 132 million users

And then there’s this guy – a German “Spiegel” journalist – doing a self experiment by asking a group of hackers to inject malicious software into his devices (the full – German – article is here); and within 5 days his privacy is revealed and shared with millions, he’s outed gay on facebook, has a status posted that he’d resigned from his job, … …

… proving – by that experiment – that millions of billions of Internet users are actually idiots.

How can millions of billions still dare to use those services when it’s so ludicrously simple that their privacy is disclosed? Obviously the vast majority of those users still move safely around the net without fear. Why?

Maybe because they don’t reuse nor share their passwords, keep their pins secret, make use of elevated security measures (like security questions, alternate email, privacy settings). Maybe they also don’t click suspicious links in suspicious emails.

Folks – here’s a secret: Malicious software has to find its way into your devices first in order to successfully unfold its maliciousness!

I’m rather asking: How can an obviously small number of un-educated Internet users raise fear within the majority and thereby help such articles gain attention?

Maybe, we could push Internet behavioural education in our schools? I reckon, this might help more than slightly unrealistic self experiments …

(Figures above sourced from http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/)