'Digital tattoos' put surfers' jobs at risk

Surfers could be putting their jobs at risk due to the content of their profiles on social-networking sites.

From outlandish status updates to outrageous photos, people are creating a "digital tattoo" for themselves that is unerasable and traceable, putting their work and personal safety at harm, said security firm Symantec.

"They either don’t know or forget that much of the data is searchable by anyone, and in many cases legally retained by the sites themselves, or stored in caches, even when the data appears to have been removed," said Caroline Cockerill of Symantec.

A twenty-something worker known only as Lindsay was unfortunate enough to lose her job over a status update she made on Facebook calling her boss "pervy" and claiming she hated her job.

Forgetting she had added her boss days before, her boss promptly replied, telling her not to bother coming back to work.

Research by Symantec found that the under-25 age group appear to be the least apprehensive about their digital tattoos and have a careless attitude towards the distribution of their personal details.

Not only can digital tattoos affect your employability, said Symantec, but they can put you at risk of cybercrime.

Cybercriminals attempt to seize individuals’ accounts by cracking passwords from looking at personal details on individuals profiles such as postcodes and birthdates in order to send spam or find further details for financial gain.

How to: Protect your passwords