Being escorted from an interview (job, not police!), I had a small chat with my prospective manager. I mentioned security checks, and he replied that he has a background in security (computer, I assume) and had looked me over online.
It’s entirely reasonable to do this. Sensible, in fact. LinkedIn, Twitter and my CV page are all safe assumptions – I broadly link these together and slightly publicise them. I was left wondering how much else he’d seen, but thought better than to ask at that stage. Perhaps I’ll leave this as a challenge should I end up working there.
So, did he find my Facebook profile? Nothing worrying there as I’d kept the public persona pretty safe. Mainly pictures, some pro-EU bits and a few notes on security. A few more personal notes, but all intended for general consumption. Could he have seen my private FB bits? Probably not as I’ve not accepted any friends in a while, but impersonation would certainly be a path in.
Now, this blog. Quite a bit less visible, but could be found through a WHOIS search (based on my professional-related domain). My Amazon wishlist would be tricky to find if you don’t know a little about me, but once in you’d be able to understand some of my interests, which may help with social engineering….
Other blogs/sites? I’m not even sure which ones exist, but they may at least be indexed on the Wayback Engine, and the same goes for the various fora to which I’ve contributed over the years….