 |
Facebook survival Tips
What if someone asks you not to use Facebook?. Would you listen to
him or her? Probably not. Many people are senselessly over-sharing
information on Facebook, without any second thoughts as to who
would be reading their posts or what effect it could have on them
in the future. Do you know that many of employers are using
Facebook to check potential employees prior to hiring?
According to Sri Lanka CERT|CC, Facebook victims are on the rise
(http://bit.ly/rNPb59).
But what can we do? It is not like that we can stop using it. To
reduce the problem, Facebook has implemented a plethora of privacy
and security controls. But still, a true reduction is not that
easy. As it turns out, the problem continues to grow.
These controls are quite confusing even for the tech savvy geeks.
Generally, people don not bother to read manuals or FAQs to
understand them clearly. When was the last time you read an End
User Agreement?
After looking at the guidelines published by Facebook and many
other security (and privacy) gurus, I came up with following
generic guidelines that addresses the common concerns.
|
1. |
Do not post anything on Facebook (or online) which you do not
want your boss, girlfriend, customers or the lecturer to see.
I know, you think a plethora of privacy controls can protect
you. But history has proven otherwise. There is no security
patch for human stupidity. Besides, there could be a day,
someone would perhaps post your Facebook credentials online
for everyone to enjoy. How soon would you know if something
similar actually happens? |
|
2. |
Configure
your privacy settings |
| |
a. |
You
can restrict who can search for you on Facebook |
| |
b. |
Who
would be able to see your address, phone number, date of birth and
other personal details |
| |
c. |
Who can see your albums and pictures? |
| |
d. |
Who
can write on your wall? Take control of who and what can be posted
on your wall and the news feed |
| |
e. |
Stop
sharing information with third party applications |
|
3. |
Don�t
accept all friend requests you receive. Refrain from adding
unknown people as friends. Choose friends wisely. |
|
4. |
Configure
two factor authentication. |
According to Veracode, Facebook will keep your data even if your
profile is deactivated. But deletion may be a better option (http://bit.ly/sFmijT).
And finally, this is no comprehensive guide to privacy and
security on Facebook. Above mentioned steps would get you started
on being more security and privacy conscious. Remember, security
(and privacy) are not one off things. What is secure today may be
insecure tomorrow (or in a few seconds). So it always makes sense
to know what�s going on out there.
Parakum
Pathirana
CISM Coordinator
- ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter |
|
 |
|
 |
600,000 hacks a day, welcome
to Facebook
The Social Network� reveals
rips in the web |
|
|
By Natalie Apostolou |
|
|
Every 24 hours 600,000 Facebook accounts are subject to
attempted hacking or violation, Facebook has revealed. |
|
|
40,000+ email addresses and
passwords discovered on phishing site |
|
|
By Stephen Chapman | November 14, 2011, 8:00pm PST |
|
|
Summary: Over 40,000 Hotmail and MSN email addresses, along
with passwords, have been discovered on a phishing Web site.
Read about the incident here. |
|
|
Most SL Facebook complaints
from females on identity theft |
|
|
By Jagdish Hathiramani |
|
|
Of the 1,600 Facebook related complaints that have been
received by the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team
(Sri Lanka CERT) since the beginning of 2011, the majority of these
incidents pertain to the opening of accounts, later reported
as false, using the identity of mostly real life Sri Lankan
females; according to Kanishka Yapa, Information Security
Engineer at Sri Lanka CERT, the Information and Communication
Technology Agency-subsidiary that has been tasked with
national cyber security protection. These fake accounts,
once created, are later used to carry out various abusive
activities. |
|
|
|
Month in Brief
Facebook Incidents
Reported to Sri Lanka CERT|CC in October 2011
| |
|
|
|
Fake +
Harassment |
|
|
|
Hacked |
|
|
|
Abuse |
|
|
|
Other |
Genderwise
Statistics - Sri Lanka CERT|CC
|
|
