Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Facebook INTRO


   Yes, that amazing place where you share, like and post things can be a security problem.  You share lots of personal information.  You share pictures and articles and funny pictures of cats or political opinions.  You add long lost friends and coworkers.  You play games and allow them access to your wall. 

    Do you know what you are sharing and who can see it?  What can they get from these little bits of information?  Well, did you share what high school you went to in your profile?  A quick google search can find out what your mascot was.  And that is one of the top 10 security questions on websites.  As a matter of fact ING uses that question.  Your birthday, your family, your parents, your likes and dislikes.  You can even be sharing your email address and phone number with out even realizing it.  Who can see your wall?  What exactly do you share?  Did you know that sometimes friends of friends can see your post if they are not your friend but the friend you share posted on your post.  That post about how excited you are about your two week cruise to rest and relaxation just told everyone that no one will be home for how long and possibly when you are gone.  I have read articles about people who have been robbed because of such posts.

    If you have your settings so that friends of friends can see when a friend posts or likes one of your photos or vise versa.  Now if you post something personal about a tough time you are going through you are looking for a little support from your friends.  A good friend of yours makes a comment like keep your chin up.  Well that post you made about how sad you are or what not can now be seen by your EX.  Yes, if your settings are set up properly your EX’s can stalk you through mutual friends.  Maybe that post was about the EX.  No its not a huge deal or maybe it is to you.  Remember, nothing you put on the internet is absolutely private.  But you can attempt to make it as private as you can.

    So we are going to be going through the privacy and security settings.  I will show you the features and settings that will make you as secure as you feel that you need to be.