To the average person being hacked, they usually think virus, trojan or even a direct attack hack... getting information from their computer and while for the most part this is most likely true. But it is not the only way information is hacked from you. There are many ways it is done where you yourself are freely giving up information online in an innocent-looking post that over a period of time is gathering information about you. 

Take for example on Social Media like FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media websites you see a post like;

You answer it they now have your age... and most people think so what... but  a week later another post;

Again you answer it...not thinking about it at all, the data you give this time is updated and checked against or verified against the last answer you gave. They may not even need to do this as you may have it on your profile in the public eye. It may seem innocent until you find out it is too late. So far they only have your Name from FaceBook, your age... maybe even what city you are in, possibly where you work and a list of friends and pages you follow. This alone is enough to form a picture and advertisers could use.

and just like that I now possibly know, the country and city you live in... 

The following week you answer this thinking nothing of it, thinking I don't live there anymore, so what does it matter? On its own it means not a lot, but when added with some of the other information that has been collected it starts to form a picture of who you.

These all seem innocent on their own, and even together doesn't give a lot of info. But the picture is forming and the more you answer the more info the hackers get. 

They have confirmed your age, know your first job and possibly what you do for a living now, they know if you drive a car or not, and what your first car was... which can give clues to the type of person you are and advertising lists or spam list. They know your first job.

Week later you see;

We now know what type of TV shows you like to watch.

and now we know your favorite food.

I now know your favorite colour, food, and style of music.

Overall you are thinking so what... but there is more and I will get to the point and what they do with this collected data soon.

Now I know what you collect and if you are single or not.

And now I am starting to get a picture of your buying habits and the things like you buy.

Now I know what you really want and like to buy. 

So where are we at the moment, I know your name, age. Possibly city and country. I know the area you grew up in, your first car, first job and if you are single or not, I know the type of things you are wanting to buy, I know what you are collecting, I know the type of TV show you watch and type of music you listen to. Not forgetting I know what you like to eat. But there is more 

We get to know what type of person you are... and also adding to what type of stuff you like to buy. 

This just adds more about what type of TV shows you watch.

This goes with the, "how long have you been single?" question and adds another layer to the picture.

I now know where you want to go on vacation, that you were pretty good at math or science, and now starting to work out the size of your family.

I now start to see your buying patterns and confirm what you collect. Even if it is a different answer to the "What do I collect?" question, I start to get a picture of your buying and shopping pattern. Say you said tools, okay this person, is a tradie, or has a workshop, confirming job question and or giving other hints to your hobby or things you do. 

and now I know the last 3 digits of your phone number... 

Six months later and you innocently answer this one and by knowing the country and city I have a country code and area code and most of your phone number. All I have to do is come up with a fancy way for you to tell me what cell phone company you prefer and I have your complete mobile number phone number.

I now know you have pets... I wonder is it a guard dog?

I now, well, I know you have a history of possible DUI's. Depending on how you answer this adds to your history profile and or they can work out behavior patterns, or whether you drink alcohol or not.

So as you can see, I can quickly gather some data on you, and most on its own is pretty useless information until you start thinking of hackers and their mindset.  Think of your password... most people do not do passwords the way passwords should be done. Most of the time people use a phrase or a word, and then a number, and the hackers are not necessarily after the password as such but given enough time and data could guess your password... However, what they are after with this information over time is password hints. It also is a form of profiling and over a period of time, we start to form a picture of who you are.

Many websites have security password hints if you forget your password like;

• What's your favorite colour? ...  you said blue, or
• What are the first four digits of your phone number? I have that,
• What is your pet's name? yup you gave that to me as well.
• What was your first car? you said it was Mazda...
• What was a street you grew up in? I also have that.
• How many siblings are in your family? oh you said 3
• What was your mother's maiden name?

I have seen some of these groups slowly chip away at getting bank account numbers and people falling for it... 

This information can also be sold to advertising companies and spam lists, and with the other information they have collected through cookies and web history they have a pretty good idea of what adverts to throw at you, 

You have to remember you have probably answered a lot more of these types of questions online than you can remember to give me more and more details about you. Just from the above I know your;

1. Name.
2. Age.
3. City.
4. Country. 
5. If you are single or in a relationship maybe married or not.
6. If married I know for how long.
7. What street you grew up on.
8. Your favorite colour.
9. Your first grade teachers name.
10. Your first job.
11. Your first car.
12. What type of things you are collecting.
13. From above I can probably work out your hobby.
14. What you like to watch on TV.
15. Type of music you listen to.
16. What you like to eat and drink.
17. What subjects you are good at.
18. What subjects you are not so good at.
19. Where you wish to go on a vacation.
20. I know how many siblings are in your family.
21. I can work out your phone number.
22. I can see your buying and shopping patterns.
23. I know if you own pets or not.
24. Whether you have had a DUI or not.

From this little bit of information, I can work out what type of person you are without asking too many more questions. Is this person worth the email or phone scam, Many of the questions these groups have follow up questions that all seem like fun and games and innocent, like;

• Are you in the same job now?
• How far do you live from where you grew up?
• The car you past your drivers test in was a ____?
• Your porn name is your middle name, and the first car you had.
• In 1997 I was?

So please be very careful what you answer and who and how you answer the fun innocent-looking games and threads on social media many are just that fun and innocent. But many are not as innocent as you think. And hackers watch and collect the data from them even if they didn't post them.

So when people start answer ones like this...  it is seriously just profiling people and I just shake my head ... they don't even need to have answers... if they said one point for each... and you said 40... there is an 80% chance they get the info they need and added to the info they already have...

The final type you see is the ones you actually answer a series of questions and that is blatantly profiling people. It goes something like this.

• How old are you?
• Are single?
• What is your favorite colour?
• Who was the last person you texted?
• Where was your profile picture taken?
• Have you ever lost a friend?
• What song did you listen to last?
• What’s your relationship status?
• How many siblings do you have?
• What are your brothers’/sisters’ names?
• Where do you wish you were right now?
• Ever have a near-death experience?
• Something you do a lot?
• Are you currently angry at anyone?
• What’s stopping you from going for the person you like?
• When was the last time you cried?
• Is there anyone you would do anything for?
• What do you think about before you fall asleep?
• Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
• What is your favorite song?
• What are you doing right now?
• Who do you trust right now?
• Where did you get the shirt you’re wearing?

Please be mindful of what you are answering and why...