Ask people around.
You won’t be surprised if everyone or most of them have accounts
in the social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and
the list goes on.
With all of these, we tend to update every single thing we do: be
it grabbing some stuff, having dinner, vacation plans, being confined in the hospital
and even death funerals.
As they say, we are now in the “Digital Age” where everything can
be accessed through a few clicks of the mouse.
Here are some guidelines on how to be “safe” online:
Secure passwords.
It is advisable to create strong passwords, for example, alphanumeric
ones and symbol combinations. Avoid using birthdates, mobile numbers and the
like which most are likely known by other people. Make it a point to change
your passwords from time to time. Also, do not share your password. Treat it
like your bank account PIN or password: you would not want other people to have
access to these right?
Be sure to log out your accounts.
Always be mindful to log off your accounts especially if you are
using a common computer or “public” ones like in an internet café. Even if you
are using your gadgets or devices, do not forget to log these off or put a pin
or password so that no one will be able to play with these should your gadgets
be lost and fall into the wrong hands and start posting on behalf.
Do not share “too much”.
Sometimes, we get too excited and start to post personal thoughts,
plans and things that should only be known by those who are really close to us.
Be careful when creating your online profile and bear in mind that there are
strangers who can view these information. There are things that we can share,
things that we can share more or not at all. Do not post things that you would
not want other people to see or comment on. Also, be socially responsible and
be sensitive when posting stuffs.
Verify links, attachments and online invitations or requests.
Even before we reach the peak of the social networking era and the
digital age, it has been known that it is not advisable to open links or
attachments coming from unverified or unfamiliar senders. Remember the viruses
that they say come with such? The same thing goes for online invitations or
requests. It does not matter to have hundreds of online friends. It is still
great to have some that you personally know and have really personal contact
with.
Use HTTPS.
I had seen a post in a site before about this. It says something
like do not access the sites if it is not on HTTPS. So what’s the difference?
In layman’s term, if the site is on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), it
simply means that whatever details you put on that website is accessible or can
be seen by another party whereas if it’s on HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Secure), your “computer is talking
to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on”.
So, the next time you click the button or press the return key,
think again.
Do you have any other tips in mind?
References:
Columbia University Information Technology (http://cuit.columbia.edu/cuit/it-security-resources/social-networking-dos-donts)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology
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