Understand Your Social Responsibility

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a great way to stay connected with others, but you should be wary about how much personal information you post. Threats commonly found on social networking sites include the following:

Spam and Online Scams
Every email scam has its equivalent on social networking sites. What's more, some sites allow users to hide the URL when posting a link, forcing you to click on it to find out if it's a legitimate address.

Fraudulent Profiles
Cybercriminals may create fraudulent profiles to impersonate an official organization or someone you know to trick you into divulging personal information.

Data Collection
In some cases, cybercriminals don't even need to trick you. All the information they need to steal your identity, access your data, or stalk you can be collected from your posts and those of your friends. Be aware of your privacy and security settings before you make a post.

Hacked Account
Cybercriminals can gain access to your account if you do not guard your username and password carefully. This information can also be stolen from the service provider or from your computer or mobile device through malware such as key loggers.

Here are several ways to protect yourself when using social networks:

• Familiarize yourself with privacy and security settings
• Keep your personal information private
• Make your passwords long and strong
• When in doubt, throw unsolicited or unknown friend requests out