Social Networking: Is your
identity at risk?
reprinted with permission from HP
 The total number
of users on the social networking site Facebook has now
soared above the 200 million mark. Just to put that into
perspective: if Facebook were a country, it would be the
fifth largest on Earth, after China, India, the U.S. and
Indonesia. According to a recent report by ComScore, the
number of European Facebook subscribers has grown by 314%
over the past year to nearly 100 million users.
Due to the
site's popularity, many organizations (including HP) have
recognized Facebook's value in promoting their products and
services. And everyone from British actor Stephen Fry to
President Barack Obama has a Facebook page. Unfortunately,
many of the aspects that make Facebook and other social
networking sites so popular also make them a prime hunting
ground for identity thieves, online scam artists and
criminals. However, there are a few measures you can and
should take to protect yourself.
1. Beware of
divulging personal information on your user profile.
Many users don't think twice about entering a wealth of
personal information into their user profiles, everything
from their address to their date of birth and home phone
number. This is exactly the type of information that
scammers love to get their hands on, so be sure you're not
posting anything you wouldn't want a stranger to see.
2. Utilize
the site's privacy settings. Most social networking
sites offer different degrees of privacy settings. You can
select or limit the people who can view your profile
information, and block your name and profile from being
indexed in Internet search engines like Google. The best
option is to set your profile to "private," so that only
selected people will be able to view it.
3. Use
status updates sensibly. It might be tempting to let
everyone know that you're on vacation for two weeks with no
access to email but that also lets people know your house or
apartment is probably empty, and provides an opening for
identity thieves to misuse your information while you're
offline. Similarly, beware of unusual status updates from
friends, and always personally confirm any sort of request
for money – your friend's account may just have been hacked!
4. Don't
click on links embedded in e-mail notifications. One
popular scammer technique involves sending an
authentic-looking e-mail notification that encourages you to
go to a link that asks for personal information like
passwords and usernames. To protect yourself, always open
your browser and input the link manually.
5. Avoid
online surveys. While they may seem harmless, some chain
surveys are designed to solicit information that is often
used as security questions for banking and other
institutions. Be wary of answering questions like "What was
your first pet's name?" or "What is your mother's maiden
name?", and ask yourself if this is really information you
need or want to make publicly available.
Because
security policies on social networking sites can vary, be
sure you're educated – make sure to read the security
information for the sites you use, whether it's Facebook,
Twitter, Orkut, Bebo or MySpace. And try to keep abreast of
the latest Internet scams so you can avoid being a victim. |
