By: Ang Biondo
It seems so many these days are into the ‘Social Media Network Epidemic’. Be it ‘FaceBook.com’ ‘LinkedIn.com’, ‘MySpace.com’, or ‘Twitter.com’, they are all part of the social media network craze. From job leads, celebrities, the news media, to best friends and long lost acquaintances, it seems everyone is trying to get everyone else involved in this social media networking craze. The good side is that these social media networking sites make it extremely easy to keep your finger on the pulse of the most current developments and keep in touch with your friends, relatives and loved ones. There is however a dark side to this modern day technological convenience we cherish so much.
If you are not familiar with Social Networking or what the mechanics of it, I suggest you watch this video featuring Mela Fever of the Common Craft Show as he explains ‘Social Networking in Plain English’ in this ‘YouTube’ video found on ‘YouTube’ and can be accessed at the following link, or viewing the video by clicking on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc Mr. Fever explains the mechanics of ‘social networking’ in a manner that is easy for all to understand.[1]
It seems those most interested in SMN (social media networking) are the innocent, and unfortunately, the most vulnerable — the trusting and often naïve minds of our youth; with never a thought to phishers, spammers, and scammers. For those of you who still think ‘phishing’ has something to do with a pole, or ‘spamers’, meat-in-a-can, and ‘scammer’ someone knocking at your front door, you are just as vulnerable as our kids. As guardians of those too young to discern we have a certain obligation to educate, but also to be educated, to protect against those who prey and do harm to both young and old.
While I have been a student of the computer age for many years now, I must admit I have not shared an interest in the SMN arena. However, recent discussions have helped me see the value of understanding this ever growing rage, and have made me much more sensitive to the precarious nature of it. So many people stand in the majority of the computer illiterate, but race through a keyboard, networking site, or blackberry as second nature. It is my hope that just one person might be a little more discerning in safeguarding themselves and their loved one(s) after reading this article. So knowing this and possessing a desire to protect our own children, we all must realize are obligation to inform those people we know who fall into the computer illiterate category of the importance of keeping their children as well as ours safe while on line. If you know a person that may fit into this category, or maybe borderline – print this article out and give it to them. Maybe, just maybe – it might help.
Let’s start by considering the fact that all of these “tools” for communication that we love so much are creating a “Big Brother” environment allowing everyone to see virtually every keystroke you type on your keyboard. Government agencies, big industry, spammers, and anyone else (like your employer) who is interested in, or may have a vested interest in you, can not only easily see who you are communicating with, but see what you are talking about as well.
For anyone wishing to create an on-line profile, there are a variety of communications providers free for the taking. The caveat is, how many of you are providing information that you were not aware of to an entity or potential predator you were not aware of? Employers have even used the on-line profile of an employee to fire them, and it’s all perfectly legal. Why, because that employee placed their profile onto a public ‘social network’ of their own volition and posted things about their employers business that violated company policy.
The commercial aspect for the government and big business to monitor ‘social media networks’ should be obvious, especially in the case of ‘Homeland Security’ and spammers. They are good tools for potential employers in evaluating a potential employee before making a commitment to hire them. In this day and age many employers ask for an email address on their application. This makes it easy for any personnel employee viewing their application to acquire a personal ‘social media network’ profile for the potential employee if one has been created. The potential employer does not even have to ask if the potential employee has a ‘social media network’ account. In the case of spammers, it allows them to track your likes and dislikes, thus the junk mail and e-mail.
Note that all of these services default to a public communication or unlocked mode. This means that unless you set the defaults to protect your privacy, your profile, friends, or contact list, and even your computer is open to public access, including any private or financial information making you vulnerable to identity theft.
If you are naïve enough to think you are protected from intrusion from hackers because you have a grade “A” anti-virus/spyware killer, you only need look as far as the type of ‘spam’ or ‘junk mail’ you are receiving in your email in box.
In 1962 a 17 year old Australian surfing the net hacked into the super secure Pentagon computers, remarking “child’s play” when asked how he managed to hack into the Pentagon’s most secret Nuclear Arsenal files. Pentagon officials were highly concerned that If a 17 year old hobbyist gained access so easily, how difficult would it be for others to do so. And when they thought they had the hole plugged a second incident occurred.
In 2005 once again the headlines featured an article of a 39 year old hacker who hacked into the Pentagons super secure computers. This raised havoc in the Pentagon since the happenings of 9/11 were still very fresh. Homeland security was extremely concerned that if an amateur could get into highly confidential files how difficult would it be for al-Qaida, if they hadn’t already. This hacker was inspired by the movie “War Games” on the movie circuit back in 1983 when he viewed the movie at the age of 17. Unfortunately I didn’t follow the story through conclusion, but if the U.S. was successful in extradition from England, he would face up to 70 years in prison. The government’s computers are among the most secure in the world, and they were compromised by amateurs.
Think about it. Mere amateurs often find ‘backdoor’s’ to sophisticated software applications which we feel so comfortable using. And I am talking about applications which are not on a “PUBLIC” communication, or social network. So – you see– you and your data are very vulnerable, and you have no guarantee of privacy.
If you are using “Facebook®”, “my-space®”, “twitter®”, or any social network media service, set your defaults to protect your privacy and the privacy of those on your ‘friends’ or contact list. If you don’t know how to change the defaults, contact your service and ask instructions on how to do so. Of course this is useless if your contacts, or their contacts don’t set their security as well. But then by setting the security to limit those who have access to you defeats the purpose of a ‘social network’
The best Tip I can give you to help secure your account:
- Password: When choosing a password, don’t choose the obvious. Dates connected to you such as birthday, anniversary, etc., are a bad idea. These are very popular and easy to hack.
- It is also a bad idea to use names, a name-number combination, ie: “Jane” or “Jane23”, etc. Hackers have no problem breaking these passwords and quickly get into your account.
- Create passwords using a combination of alpha-numeric, or alpha-numeric plus symbols, ie: “n0rm4n”, or n0rm4n*2o3”. Notice that I replaced the letter “o” in Norman with the number “0”, and the “a” with the number “4”, which resembles an upper case “A”. In the second case, I replaced the number “0” with the letter “o” and separated “n0rm4n” and “2o3” with an asterisk “*”.
- The use of two totally unrelated words separated with a “symbol, ie: “basket*guise”, etc., makes it extremely difficult for a hacker to decipher. Unless a hacker is bent on hacking into your particular account, the time it takes to hack a complex password, isn’t worth the time.
Never create a easy password a hacker will have no problem deciphering- If you are connected to more than one social network - NEVER use the same password across social networks
- Always keep your password personal, NEVER give it out – even to your closest friends. Some Things, like passwords NEED to remain confidential.
- Change your password often, ie: monthly, quarterly, or immediately if your account has been compromised.
- Upgrade your security software and virus definitions ofter:
- If your anti-virus/spyware software does not update automatically, do it yourself often. A good security suite will update automatically, I use “Vipre” from Sunbelt Software” and it updates several times daily. The creators of malicious software and spyware are busy people and it takes a good Security Suite to keep up with them.
- When selecting a “Security Suite”, don’t let price fool you. Paying $99 for a Security Suite does not make it the best. You need to compare the features of the software to see exactly what the program is checking for and what it does or how it handles what it detects. Often times one is paying for the name and not the service. Some top name anti-virus/spyware software is very intrusive, and embeds itself deeply into your system, making it near impossible to remove. They also want to store your personal information on their web-site in the name of security, and although they may say they wont give or sell your information to anyone, they can’t guarantee that a disgruntled employee will not violate that promise.
Some Additional Tips for Parental Control:
If your child is on-line, it is IMPORTANT:
- To monitor exactly what they are doing online.
- That a parent realizes that he or she must fulfill their obligation as a parent and not a buddy to their children. We can be both, but it is necessary that our children know that you are in control, and the rules must be followed.
- To fulfill our duty and moral obligation to teach our children right from wrong,
• We teach our children to respect others - That your child falls under your financial and social responsibility. I shouldn’t have to remind anyone that parents are not only financially responsible, but fully responsible for a minor child’s actions. If your off-spring is a college student, New York State law says your child is your dependant up to the age of 25, or as long as they are in school. This makes you as a parent fiscally responsible for that child and you assume all liability. If your not sure of the law in your state, I would check with your states attorney generals office.
I can’t emphasize the importance of knowing what your child is doing on line strong enough. I work with a constituent who’s computer and a number of personal articles were confiscated by the FBI, because their 13 year old emailed what could have been interpreted as a threatening letter to the President. You can’t imagine how miserable they made his life. Responsible parents should be interested in what their children are doing on-line and should consider:
- Becoming at least basically familiar with the computer and social network media’s.
- If your child asks for permission to join a social network, be it FaceBook.com®, MySpace.com®, LinkedIn.com®, or Twitter.com®, etc., you should:
- Be savvy enough to create the account for them, and make it very clear that it is a privilege that can easily be lost by abuse.
- You should create the password and profile for them, and keep the password secure from the child so that you must sign them in.
- You should lock, or set the defaults to remove it from a public network and make it as private as possible. These services default to un-locked and are open to anyone on-line who stumbles across your child’s network, or profile. Unfortunately there are devious people in the vast internet world who are constantly searching the web for just such open networks.
- You should make rules and determine who is on their “friends, or contact” list.
- You need to and should monitor them while on line. Knowing it is impossible and/or impractical to be watching over ones shoulder, just being in the same room is a deterrent to breaking the rules. DON’T LET THE COMPUTER BECOME A BABY SITTER!
- Set time limits, and restrict access until other more important chores are done, such as homework, cleaning their room, etc.
- The key here is COMMON-SENSE
Unfortunately in this day and age, the computer is an essential tool for the young developing mind. The world has come to depend on computers, and they are instrumental in every aspect of industry and education. To take the use of a computer away from a child as punishment for abuse of the internet is like taking their school books away from them. If they abuse their privileges on the internet, take away the internet, not the computer. If it is necessary to enhance the punishment, take away their gaming rights, (on all electronic devices). They should be allowed at least prepare their homework and print it out. If they insist they need the computer to research their homework, a week or two of referencing books from the local library should convince them that violating their internet privileges just isn’t worth it. Since access to the internet is available through computers at the library these days, it would be a good idea to accompany them when on that trip to the local library.
FaceBook.com suggests the following to remain secure while logged into FaceBook, And although this is from FaceBook.com it also applies to any social network application. Contact the Social Media Network you subscribe to for more specific details for your application:
Steps You Should Take:
- If spam has been sent from your account: Reset your Facebook password immediately. You can do this by clicking on the “Forgot Your Password” link on the login page or by going to the Account Settings page once logged in.
- If you can’t reset the password on your account because the email address you use to log in has been changed, or if your account has been disabled, contact our User Operations team.
- Run a virus scan on your computer, as you may have inadvertently downloaded malware. Free virus scanners are posted below.
If you’ve seen spam sent from a friend’s account:
- Tell your friend to follow the steps above.
- Warn those who received the spam not to click on it, and to delete it from their Walls and Inboxes immediately.
Free Online Virus Scanners:
If spam has been sent from your account, you should immediately run a virus scan using one of these sites:
- http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
- http://security.symantec.com
- http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/scan.asp?affid=56
- http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8
- http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
- http://ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
- http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan
- http://ttp://www.eset.com/onlinescan
Support for Your Computer:
If your Windows PC or Mac has been infected with malware or a virus, check out these helpful sites:
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
• You may also want to check out OpenDNS. OpenDNS is a free security service that will help protect you from phishing scams on Facebook, and while browsing the Internet: https://www.opendns.com/start/?src=fb
MY apologies if I have given you a sense of apprehension or an un-easy feeling about your once pleasant computing experience, but since I consider myself a perpetual PC novice, and know what I am capable of doing with a computer, it scares me to think what an hacker experienced with mal-intent could do.
My friends often ask why I consider myself a perpetual computer novice, and all I can answer is: If you consider the constant evolution of computers since their inception, then - one who considers themselves an expert – is a fool. The expertise I hold, is in the obsolete, and the knowledge I have merely touches on the current, which is obsolete before I gain knowledge of it, so - am I not a novice?
[1] You can view or purchase a host of other educational video’s in plain English by Melo Fever at:
http://www.commoncraft.com/
Many thanks to my daughters and daughter-in-law – Lynn, Michelle, and Kirsten, for their crucial and much appreciated input into this article. Since I refuse to get involved with ‘Social Media Networking’ at this time, their experiences in this field proved to be invaluable in this field. I also wish to thank everyone who supplied information and helped in the research. Thanks to all.
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