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Connect With Caution

Secure Your Online Networking Space

By Siobhan MacDermott

You may feel proud that your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter friend lists keep growing. You've got hundreds of followers--some close friends, others you barely recognize and some total strangers. While you may feel great gaining popularity online, it's probably wiser to go slow, cut back on "friends" and followers and stick with those you know. The last thing you want is to have your home burgalized just because you announced you'd be out of town for the weekend. You can keep your overall online networking experience smooth and secure with just a few expert tips.

Six ways to stay safe when connecting through social networks:

• Do not accept pop-ups or prompts for software, unless you're armed with web scanner software such a LinkScanner, which checks each site for infections prior to access.

• Do not ever provide, post, or submit any confidential personal data such as your social security number, banking details or medical records. Social networking sites do not require this sort of information to join, unless you're dating online or paying monthly. In that case, you'll want to look out for a security icon on the site for safely submitting the information in order to proceed. Read the terms of use prior to agreeing.

• Create a strong password for each account, write them down, and keep them in a safe place. If one password gets phished, at least you lose only one account, not the keys to the kingdom. Bad guys love people who only use one password for everything. Note that it may not be safe to network online in the office. Work computers are frequently unpatched, because corporations tend to disallow automatic monthly patching.
  

• Do not let friends, peers and coworkers access their social networks on your computer, nor yours on their machine. Infections to your computer can enter through unsafe practices, or your login security could be compromised via cookies saved on your computer. Most importantly, whether they share your computer or not, educate your children--especially teenagers--on safe online practices.

• Never auto save your password information, and clear your history at least once a week. History contains cookies and cookies remembers what sites you've accessed, your IP address and other private information. You want to reset those frequently to ensure safety.

• Do not accept friend requests or invite friends that you personally do not know. This is a simple rule that is often overlooked. Unless you're confident you personally know the individual, we recommend being safe rather than sorry. Remember, strangers mean danger.

Now that you've armed yourself with a little net knowledge, go ahead and have fun networking online, sharing photos and sending live updates about your dynamic life.

Siobhan MacDermott heads Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at AVG Technologies, a global security solutions industry protecting more than 80 million computer users against malware.

Infolink:
www.avg.com