Social Networking! The Devil in The Dark…
For the past couple of weeks I have been on the road in Schwetzingen, Germany developing and teaching a course on Social Networking Security for the US Army. It’s a pretty meaty subject and it’s something which affects us all. Social Networking is nothing new, it’s been around for century’s, but the internet has given it a new lease of life. The explosion in Social Networking Sites has been truly amazing.
There are SNS’s for almost everything from, religion to movies, dating, technology and so much more. In the past year or so this explosion has expanded on to our cell phones and beyond, meaning that we can truly socialize 24/7. Now of course this is an amazing development but like all good things you need to approach new technology from a security standpoint. Parents need to teach their children of the dangers lurking out there in cyberspace and believe me they ARE there.
I am often asked what advice would I give to folks who have not yet signed up to a SNS well here are my top 10!
- Not everyone is your friend
- Understand the dangers
- Report misuse immediately
- Review the terms and conditions of the Social Network site before you register and commit to their site
- Be extremely cautious as to whom you allow access to your profile
- Be careful what kind of personal identifying information you post on SN site; too much information can lead to identity theft
- Be aware that anyone can access information you place on a SN Site if your profile is made public
- Avoid putting your physical address on your profile
- Avoid putting any personal phone numbers on your profile
- Use a generic email address such as a Hotmail account rather than your personal email address
I recently chaired a panel discussion at this year’s TechEd Europe in Berlin. We had a great discussion on SSNs. If you wantto see more click the link: http://www.msteched.com/online/view.aspx?tid=53dc4b05-4bac-4fdb-aa67-ddc6123cc8ad
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