In light of the rogue Facebook security exploit floating throughout cyberspace, I’ve compiled a couple of suggestions for Facebookers out there to help keep everyone safe.
1. Choose a strong password. Don’t use someone’s name, birthday, address, phone number, etc. Make it hard for others to guess, yet easy for you to remember.
2. Under no circumstances should you give out your credentials to ANYONE! Not even a boyfriend/girlfriend, close friends, or even your spouse. You have no idea how many breakups and blackmail attempts, or how much defamation of character and/or password changes are made out of retaliation happen everyday because of Facebook. Think smart
3. Keep your personal life and private information off of Facebook! I see everyone’s phone numbers, home addresses and email address openly available to the public. I’ve done my far share of allowing my info to reach out the all four corners of the world. My suggestion? If you are under the age of eighteen, personally identifiable information DOES NOT belong on Facebook… PERIOD!
4. Limit your time and what you do on public computers. DO NOT allow Facebook to “remember you” or for the web browser to remember your login credentials. This is a huge security risk and should be avoided at all times!
5. Last, but not least, use fair judgment while on ANY social networking site and make sure your internet security software is up-to-date with the latest virus definitions and protection updates. If you are directly connected to your modem and are not behind a router, invest in a total security solution to keep your computer safer from malicious attacks and unauthorized intrusions. If you ARE behind a router, make sure you have the latest firmware and also that any firewalls, wireless encryption and other security measures are in use.
Stay safe! :)
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Nosta - August 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Great post! Also don’t forget to ALWAYS check the address bar before logging into a website. This is a major security risk as there are a lot of scam sites out there with similar addresses to the site you want to access, and you in turn provide these scam sites with your account info.