Many people use Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends. Most of these people don’t realize that Facebook can also be a security risk if you don’t limit the information you post and list on this site. With cyber-stalking and identity theft as common as they are, we should all be more cautious what information we make available online.
Even if you have set your privacy settings so your profile is only visible to friends, you should still check to make sure you’ve kept things as secure as you would like. By going to your Facebook page while logged out, you can see what the casual observer sees.
Your Birthday This is a big no-no as far as profile information. Second only to your social security number in terms of providing identity thieves with access, your birthday should be kept off of Facebook.
Your birthday can be used by identity thieves to try to guess your PIN number or to reset passwords on some accounts that may use your birth date as a security question. Especially if you use any of the numbers in your birth date in any combination in your PIN numbers, posting your birthday puts you at increased risk.
Your Current Job Be careful disclosing the name of your company or your position there. It’s not necessary. You may feel like showing off if you have a great job but it is still not a good idea. If your workplace is publicly accessible and you list the company on your Facebook, a stalker can come to your workplace and stalk you.
You might not even know if this were to happen. Sometimes a stalker will let you know they are there, sometimes they simply watch you from afar. Obviously you don’t want either to happen, so why not just leave your work information off of your Facebook profile.
Your School Facebook started as a platform for college students; you used to need a university email to get an account. That’s no longer the case, so Facebook does not need to know what college you attend or used to attend. Now Facebook just uses the information in targeted advertising.
Since school information is not needed, it would be better for you to take off this information, and to use a more general email that doesn’t give this information away.
This writer also often shares knowledge about topics including metallic glaze paint and buy car paint.
categories: internet,computers,communication,scams,technology,entertainment,family,teens,kids,recreation,leisure,hobbies,society,education
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Sun, May 9, 2010
PC Security