After a barrage of hacker attacks and terrorist threats, Sony Pictures Entertainment has nixed its plans to release The Interview on Christmas day. Although one wouldn’t normally garner any online dating tips for men from recently dropped movie release plans, there could be some insight here.
The threats are pretty serious; the terrorists have asked Sony Pictures and any theaters planning to show the movie to “remember the 11th of September 2001.”
In essence, the film is a dark comedy about a pair of Hollywood tabloid TV hosts who have been asked to do an interview with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un but are then intercepted by the U.S. government to participate in his assassination. Seth Rogen and James Franco star in the film.
This debacle may very well go down in history as one of Hollywood’s biggest failures of leadership.
These hacker attacks actually have us thinking a little bit about online dating – a very common practice today – and security issues. In an effort to help ensure that your experience is as positive as possible, here are some online dating tips for men and women:
- You’ve got to protect your finances. If you ever get a request to send money to anyone you’ve met through an online dating site, politely decline. This sort of request is usually a scam of some sort, and you don’t want to become a victim!
- Don’t share your personal information. It is never a good idea to share your full name, personal address, phone number, or email address with someone you don’t know. Although you could find the love of your life, you might also be communicating with a con artist or online thief.
- Be smart. Use your common sense. If you get a request to act immediately on something, think twice. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are a number of red flags to be aware of including using an email or chat program outside of the dating site, requests for money, and lots of spelling or grammar mistakes. Just be careful!
Online dating can be a wonderful thing, but there are also some risks to keep in mind. Consider the extreme hacking presumably inspired by The Interview as a warning to always be careful online. Do you have an online dating profile? How do you protect yourself?
