Using Someone’s Password Without Permission May Be a Crime This lesson is part of the iKeepCurrent TM Program, provided by iKeepSafe TM

Discovering passwords is often easy The password may be weak It may have been shared The person might have walked away from their computer It may be automatically stored by the device Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011 But that doesn’t give you the right to use them

Here’s what happened: Young man received text message with girl’s password Young man used password, sexualized her profile, and impersonated her in sexual messages to other boys. – Changed profile = libel – Impersonation = ID theft Result? Young man convicted - 90 days in a juvenile academy and probation Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011

Questions to Ponder Have you ever used someone’s password without permission? Did you know using someone’s password may be a crime? Was the punishment this young man received fair? – If not, what is fair? Should the person who sent the password via text message also have been punished? Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011

Weighing Ethics Several people received the password but only one abused it. Why didn’t others use the info? What could the people who received the password have done to make the situation better? What ethical considerations do you see in using information obtained without consent? Besides the criminal penalties, what other consequences could there be for this young man? Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011

Takeaways The young man learned an important lesson in respecting the identity of others and in ethics…but he learned it in a very hard way. We learn either by doing, by thinking through potential actions and outcomes, or by seeing what others have done. Had he understood the consequences of his actions, do you think he would have abused her password, changed her profile, or stolen her identity to post sexual messages? How will you learn? Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011

This iKeepCurrent TM lesson is brought to you by iKeepSafe TM Content Created by LOOKBOTHWAYS LLC iKeepSafe © All Rights Reserved Made possible by a grant from WebRoot October 2011