Social Networking Sites – The Alarm is Sounding, Is Anyone Listening?

Recently there have been a spate of articles related to the crooks and thieves who are now targeting sites like Twitter and Facebook, harvesting your personal information. I’ve Tweeted out a couple of links to information in hopes of raising some awareness.

I wonder if anyone is listening, as the alarm sounds in the background, being drowned out by the exchange of hugs and the delivery of Mafia Wars energy packs. Like most things in life, it’s likely not a priority until YOU become a victim.

Many users of social networking sites have fallen into this false sense of security, thinking perhaps that there is safety in numbers.

What can happen, everybody’s using these sites so they must be safe, right?

The sheer numbers of people using these sites is one of the reasons the underhanded thieves see these sites as a new fertile ground. They realize that many users are suffering from TMI syndrome. Yes, there is Too Much Information often listed in personal profiles, including dates of birth, phone numbers and actual home addresses.

Even some of your Tweets and updates regarding various things in your personal life are valuable to hackers. Your first car, your high school, your favorite Rock Band are sometimes answers to security questions on bank or credit card accounts.

The harvesting of this information, combined with the lifting of your photo could provide thieves with enough to set up a cloned account, impersonating a trusted individual while performing their dastardly deeds.

Now before you run off and pull down your photos, relax and take a deep breath. There are things you can do to protect yourself and make it less likely that you’ll become a victim. I say less likely, as there is no 100% security umbrella that you can hold over yourself anywhere on the internet today, but being aware and cautious will go a long way toward keeping you from being an easy target.

Have a look at this 3:20 video report. I have listed a few helpful tips below the video.

Video courtesy IDTheftSecurity.com

Scam prevention tips

• Learn how to use security and privacy settings
• Learn how to report a compromised account
• Check your privacy settings and adjust accordingly
• Change password often. Yes, it’s a pain, but ID theft is more painful
• Set security software to update automatically
• Never post photos of the front of your house showing the address or autos showing tag numbers
• Don’t email sensitive information like social security or credit card #s
• Be aware of your online security and think twice about what you post

Below there is a slideshow with a few additional tips that can be very helpful for your online security education.

Slideshow courtesy of Lionheart Assurance Solutions

Be safe!

Be Sociable, Share!

•