Security vendor Sophos warns social networking users of the dangers of allowing strangers to gain access to their online profiles. In a research study, they posted a fake online user profile and found that 41% of users will divulge personal information – such as email address, date of birth and phone number – to a complete stranger, greatly increasing their susceptibility to ID theft. You can read the results of the study here.

I know that many of my “friends” on Facebook et al. include their real birthdays (or at least what appears to be their real birthdays). I routinely don’t. I also like to know who I am befriending too.