Introduction
What is a Digital Footprint?
A digital footprint is the unique trail of data pertaining to a user’s activities, actions, communications, and transactions on the internet.
Examples include:
- Websites visited
- Emails or messages sent
- Information submitted in online forums
- Reviews or comments posted
- Photos and status updates posted
Today around seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves. (Pew Research Social Media Factsheet, April 2021)
Active Digital Footprint
The user has intentionally shared information about themselves either by using social media sites or other websites.
Example: A user might log into a site to comment on an online forum like Reddit or Yelp, or on social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter.
Passive Digital Footprint
Information is collected form the user without their knowledge or awareness of it happening. Example: A user visits multiple websites, leaving their IP address behind.
A digital footprint, whether passive or active, may put an insider at-risk of being targeted for malicious actions such as identity theft, financial scams, or social engineering ploys. An insider’s digital footprint may also reveal susceptibility to misinformation or disinformation campaigns designed to sow discord, and potentially compromise an insider’s allegiance to their organization.
For insiders with security clearances, this is uniquely important because it may reveal information that might put one’s trustworthiness, loyalty, reliability, and overall ability to safeguard information into question.
