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Keeping Your System Safe from Hackers

Endpoint antivirus software 

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Hackers love the challenge of getting into a business’s computer system to get access to personal information and release viruses. Protecting yourself from these kinds of attacks is essential.

When a hacker enters your system, they are often searching for the goldmine of customer information saved on a business computer server. They look for names, bank account information, social security numbers and more. It is essential that you protect your customer’s information with a strong firewall. You should also have top of the line protection software that is designed specifically for businesses. The investment is well worth it when your customers can trust your system with their personal information.

If you do business online, your site should be protected by as SSL certificate. This gives customers confidence that your site is safe. Your email is a potential hot spot for hackers to enter your system. Be wary of any message that has attachments, images, click boxes or that is unfamiliar. If you are in doubt, don’t open it. Once you open an email or click on a link that is unknown, a hacker can have an open door to your system. With a quality anti malware and anti-virus software program, you can protect yourself from threats such as this.

Many programs will even warn you if a site has potential threats on it. This is critical if you are surfing the internet and have a such such as this come up on a search engine. By making your system secure, you can prevent potential hackers from entering your system.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Internet, Protections Tagged With: , ,

Protect Yourself on Social Networking Sites By Adjusting Your Privacy Settings

A lot of people are not protected on social media sites simply because they do not know how to make their information secure. To some, it is common knowledge, but for internet users who are not particularly tech savvy or have not been engaging in social media or some online degree programs sites for long, they truly might not even know they are doing something wrong. If your parents are new to social networking, make sure to educate them on the way to keep their personal information secure on these sites.

The two biggest social networking sites are Facebook and Twitter. Each has privacy settings that let you adjust what information is displayed online to people you do not know. It is essential for your security online to go in and adjust the settings according to your preferences. You really should not have any personal information displayed at all, even to your own contacts, because some people who claim to be your friend are actually not and will use your information in a harmful or spammy way.

In Facebook, it is really easy to adjust your security settings. You just have to click on account and then go to the preferences. The default settings are pretty good, but it is also a good idea to hide your wall from people who are not on your friend list for additional security. Contrary to what some people think, Facebook does not sell your information to advertisers, they simply target your advertising space from interests that you have recorded.

Twitter is a lot different than Facebook because you are more likely to have followers that you do not personally know. This is why it is important to set up groups so you can decide which people are allowed to see which content. It is not as intuitive as Facebook, but is rather easy to learn.

Filed Under: Internet, Protections Tagged With: , ,

Two Common Ways Identity Thieves Get Information from You on Social Media Outlets

The invention of the Internet and social media sites has made it a walk in the park for identity thieves who are looking to steal your personal information. Even if you believe that you have the strongest security settings on your Facebook, Myspace and Twitter accounts, you could be inadvertently sharing all the information that an identity thief needs and not even know it.

Identity thieves won’t ask you directly for your personal information. They are now using sneaky techniques that are becoming increasingly popular on the Internet. In fact, these techniques are so popular that people do not even know that what they are doing could be putting their identity at risk. Here is a look at some of the sneaky techniques identity thieves are using to try and get your information.

Surveys/Questionnaires. Every so often a survey or questionnaire might make its way around the Internet. People innocently believe that they are just sharing their favorite food, pet, color and number. What they do not realize is they are practically handing all the information an identity thief needs on a silver platter. If you do fill out a survey or questionnaire, make sure it is only visible to friends and family members who may already have this information. Even if the survey is hosted on a separate website, you have no idea who has access to the information you are putting in and what they will do with that information when they get it.

Applications That Access Your Information. This is a very popular feature on Facebook. If there is a popular fun game that is making its way around Facebook and an identity thief will create a similar game. People mistakenly download the app on their Facebook. What they don’t realize is that when they downloaded it to their Facebook, they grant the creators of the app access to all the personal information, friends lists and ability to post on their Facebook.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Protections Tagged With: , ,

Information and Things That Should Never Be Shared on Social Media Outlets

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

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Social media sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn have become extremely popular over the past few years. In fact, it is estimated that Facebook saw a 250% increase in members in just one year. Social media outlets have become so popular that many people start to blur their online lives with their real life and will post a number of different things on these social outlets without thinking of the consequences. This can cause a number of problems with their personal and professional lives.

Here is a look at some of the information that social media users should never post or share with others on their social media outlets.

Company Information. You might think of it as a way of sharing your good news that you were put on a new project or got a raise, but this type of information can be used by competitors. Many companies are so strict about social media usage that they forbid their employees from having any social media website at all. Even if your company does not have a policy, it is a good idea to keep your company’s information to yourself. You never know who might be watching.

Photos/Videos of Your Children. You might believe that you are only sharing the photos and videos with close friends and family members. However, when it is posted on Facebook others can gain access to these photos and share them with others you do not know. You never know who is looking at your children’s photos. This can present a security risk as there are many sexual predators and people with bad intentions who might try to gain access to your children.

Personal Information. No one needs to know your mother’s maiden name, your full birthdate, city where you were born, cell phone number or home address. Avoid sharing this information on any social media outlet and you will avoid falling prey to identity thieves.

Filed Under: Internet, Protections Tagged With: ,

Staying Safe on Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are a lot of fun. They are great places to reconnect with old friends, advertise a new business and keep up with the latest information. These social networking sites can also be a dangerous place if safety precautions are not taken. Here’s a list of safety steps to take when using social networking sites.

  1. Don’t share personal information. It’s not safe to share home phone numbers, or cell phone numbers for that matter. Never put a home address, and if you make your email address public, make sure it doesn’t reveal any personal information.
  2. On those same lines, never post when you’re going on vacation. A lot of people like to make status updates of fun places they are visiting. This isn’t safe as a thief could easily break into your home knowing you and your family are away for a few days.
  3. Watch what you say about work. Work is a big part of our lives. After all, eight hours a day are spent at the office! And there are lots of crazy antics that happen in an office environment. Avoid posting about work or your crazy boss on networking sites. You never know who could see that status update and it only takes one time ticking off the boss to lose your job.
  4. Play it safe with your photos. Be careful about the photos you post. You don’t want to post photos that put you in any incriminating situations. Also be careful about the kinds of photos you post of your children.

Social networking sites can be a lot of fun. It’s great to reconnect with long lost friends and keep up with the day-to-day happenings of the people in your life. Just be careful what kind of information is posted on these sites. It’s always better to play it safe than to be sorry later.

Filed Under: Internet, Protections Tagged With: , ,

Keeping Your Personal Life Personal

As irritating as it might be to acknowledge this fact, the online world is not always the socially accepting, egalitarian place that so many people imagine it to be. When you post something online, it propagates itself into servers which are physically located (and accessible) all over the world. You also post a sort of time capsule about your life. In some future time, a lot of young children are going to find some very disturbing images featuring their parents, which may have a great deal of blackmail potential about them. And if your boss happens to be tooling around online and sees something about you that they do not like, you will most likely be finding yourself unemployed in short order as a result of that.

Our world has always been based on social status. It has always been the case that the social status that you garner among your friends (in issues such as who can urinate the furthest, who can drink the most alcohol in a set amount of time, and who can burp the loudest) is far different from the social status that you work to engender during your working hours. However, the world is now different in that one part of your life can always check out the various artifacts that the other part will inevitably leave behind.

You have the power to keep your personal life private. When it comes to social networking sites, always keep anything set to private if it has a wall that you do not control. You should also keep your profile private if it contains any pictures where you are doing anything more intimate than holding hands or more goofy than grinning. While your LinkedIn profile may just bore your friends into rolling their eyes at what a cute little corporate drone you are, your boss will not so easily dismiss the aftermath of the keggers you attended in the past.

Filed Under: Computers, Protections Tagged With: ,

Facebook Privacy Settings

Facebook | Privacy Settings-2-1

Image by Florian SEROUSSI via Flickr

Facebook is a popular social networking website that people from all over the world are using to communicate and collaborate with one another. The Facebook website offers a number of different privacy settings that are available for your use, but you must understand how to use them in order to best benefit from the privacy protections.

You can find your Facebook privacy settings by logging in to the website, then going to the top bar of your home page. Click on “Account” to bring up a list, then click on “Privacy Settings” and you will be directed to the area where you can view your current privacy settings and make edits as needed. Under “Choose Your Privacy Settings” you will find five different headings, allowing you to control who can access and view your profile. You can completely block certain users or you can put certain people in a restricted view so that they can view some but not all information on your profile.

It is important for you to consider the control that you have over who sees what. You also have the power to manage your applications and websites that have access to your information under “Applications and Websites” which you can find under “Choose Your Privacy Settings.” This will allow you to dictate which applications have your permission to access your information and which do not. Apps that you regularly use may require access to certain information in your profile in order to function, but this is not always the case. If you are not using a specific app, remove it from the access list so that it does not continue to access any details from your profile.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide how much access you give or restrict for people on Facebook. You are in control of your own privacy on Facebook, so make sure that you understand the privacy settings that are available to you.

Filed Under: Internet, Protections Tagged With: ,