Information Security Tips
Is it safe to "Social-Network" online?
With social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, users can communicate and share daily life and hobbies online with friends and strangers alike. If these sites were used correctly and responsibly, they can be an extremely convenient platform for effective communication. While enjoying the beauty of such technology, users should also be aware of security risks. While visiting this kind of websites, users may expose themselves to privacy threats, malicious content, code attack or even money scams. It is important to understand the potential security risks and take precautionary measures to protect personal information.
To help Force members understand more about information security, Information Systems Wing (ISW) publishes a series of articles to highlight the tips that leads to a "safe landing".
In this article, ISW focusses on how to protect privacy while using Social Networking websites. The secrets are as follows:
Set a strong password:
Avoid using "easy-to-guess" passwords, such as names, dates of birth, and phone numbers. Choose a password with a combination of numbers, English letters and even special symbols, such as “$%@”.
Password hint:
Be careful while choosing password
recovery questions. Some answers for password recovery questions can
easily be found on a user’s webpage, such as the name of user's pet.
Users should therefore be aware of the type of questions being chosen
and the contents of their webpages to avoid accounts being
compromised. Privacy setting:
Users should customise their sites'
privacy settings to restrict access to authorised viewers only.New contacts:
Users should be cautious while adding
new friends to their sites and always be alert on being approached by
strangers online.Uploading information:
Post only information, including photos, that a user is comfortable with others seeing and knowing.
Personal data:
Do not post personal information such
as full name, date of birth, ID number, credit card number, address,
telephone number or information about schedule or routine. Users also
have a responsibility to ensure that no personal data of others are
posted without explicit consent.Proceed with caution:
Do not trust everything one reads online, especially those from strangers. People may post false or misleading information, and sometimes even use bogus identities for different purposes.
Make
sure
security
is not compromised while surfing on the Internet