11 tips for social networking safety

Social networking websites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Windows Live Spaces are services people can use to connect with others to share information like photos, videos, and personal messages.

As the popularity of these social sites grows, so do the risks of using them. Hackers, spammers, virus writers, identity thieves, and other criminals follow the traffic

Read these tips to help protect yourself when you use social networks.

1. Use caution when you click links that you receive in messages from your friends on your social website. Treat links in messages on these sites as you would links in email messages. (For more information, see Approach links in email with caution and Click Fraud: Cybercriminals want you to 'like' it.)
2. Know what you've posted about yourself. A common way that hackers break into financial or other accounts is by clicking the "Forgot your password?" link on the account login page. To break into your account, they search for the answers to your security questions, such as your birthday, home town, high school class, or mother's middle name. If the site allows, make up your own password questions, and don't draw them from material anyone could find with a quick search. For more information, see:
   - What was the name of your first pet?
   - What is screen scraping?
   - Take charge of your online reputation
3. Don't trust that a message is really from who it says it's from. Hackers can break into accounts and send messages that look like they're from your friends, but aren't. If you suspect that a message is fraudulent, use an alternate method to contact your friend to find out. This includes invitations to join new social networks. For more information, see Scammers exploit Facebook friendships.
4. To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends, do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book. When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your email address and password to find out if your contacts are on the network. The site might use this information to send email messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone you've ever sent an email message to with that email address. Social networking sites should explain that they're going to do this, but some do not.
5. Type the address of your social networking site directly into your browser or use your personal bookmarks. If you click a link to your site through email or another website, you might be entering your account name and password into a fake site where your personal information could be stolen. For more tips about how to avoid phishing scams, see Email and web scams: How to help protect yourself.
6. Be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network. Identity thieves might create fake profiles in order to get information from you.
7. Choose your social network carefully. Evaluate the site that you plan to use and make sure you understand the privacy policy. Find out if the site monitors content that people post. You will be providing personal information to this website, so use the same criteria that you would to select a site where you enter your credit card.
8. Assume that everything you put on a social networking site is permanent. Even if you can delete your account, anyone on the Internet can easily print photos or text or save images and videos to a computer.
9. Be careful about installing extras on your site. Many social networking sites allow you to download third-party applications that let you do more with your personal page. Criminals sometimes use these applications to steal your personal information. To download and use third-party applications safely, take the same safety precautions that you take with any other program or file you download from the web.
10. Think twice before you use social networking sites at work. For more information, see Be careful with social networking sites, especially at work.
11. Talk to your kids about social networking. If you're a parent of children who use social networking sites, see How to help your kids use social websites more safely.

Sumber : Microsoft Safety & Security Center
Link : http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/social-networking.aspx

How to shop online more safely

These tips can help you determine that you're shopping at a secure and trustworthy website.

Look for signs that the business is legitimate

Buy from reputable stores and sellers. Here are some ways to check:

• Find out what other shoppers say. Sites like Epinions.com or BizRate have customer evaluations which can help you determine a company's legitimacy.

• Look for third-party seals of approval. Companies can put these seals on their sites if they abide by a set of rigorous standards such as how personal information can be used. Two seals to look for:

Better Business Bureau Online—(BBBOnline)

TRUSTe

If you see the seals, click them to make sure they link to the organization that created them. Some unscrupulous merchants will put these logos on their websites without permission.

Look for signs that the website protects your data

• On the web page where you enter your credit card or other personal information, look for an "s" after http in the web address of that page (as shown below). (Encryption is a security measure that scrambles data as it traverses the Internet.)

• Also make sure there is a tiny closed padlock in the address bar, or on the lower right corner of the window.

Use a filter that warns you of suspicious websites

Find a filter that warns you of suspicious websites and blocks visits to reported phishing sites. For example, try the SmartScreen Filter included in Internet Explorer.

Keep your web browser updated

It helps protect you when you shop online.

Sumber : Microsoft Safety & Security Center
Link : http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/online-shopping.aspx

Keeping Children Safe
Beberapa Cara untuk Membantu Anak Agar Aman Ketika Online

Hal pertama yang perlu kita pikirkan adalah mengenai beberapa faktor yang dapat membahayakan mereka pada saat online, antara lain:

• “Drive by Download” (Progam jahat yang terinstall secara otomatis ketika anda mengakses halaman web),
• Risiko yang terdapat pada aplikasi “peer-to-peer (P2P)” file sharing yang dapat memberikan kesempatan kepada orang lain untuk mengakses komputer anda secara remote,
• Iklan yang tidak diinginkan, termasuk pop-up dan program/aplikasi adware. Hal ini terkadang terinstall secara otomatis yang bersamaan pada saat anda menginstall program-program gratis yang didapatkan dari internet,
• konten “sexsually explicit” atau konten yang tidak pantas (berbau pornograpi),
• Mengungkapkan informasi pribadi anda atau orang lain pada situs yang memang sengaja dibuat oleh orang tidak bertanggungjawab untuk menjebak anda,
• Men-download (mengunduh) material bajakan (seperti musik atau file video),
• Menjadi target kejahatan ketika online (di chat room).

Kedua, melindungi anak anda ketika online: Sama halnya ketika mereka berada di dunia nyata, ketika online (dunia maya) anak-anak sangat rentan terkena dampak buruk dari internet. Di bawah ini terdapat beberapa hal yang dapat anda lakukan untuk meminimalkan risiko dari dampak negatif/buruk pada anak anda :

• Bicarakan kepada anak-anak tentang kemungkinan beberapa bahaya / sisi negatif yang akan mereka hadapi ketika sedang online,
• Jika memungkinkan, tempatkan komputer anda di ruang keluarga dan cobalah untuk berbagi pengalaman ketika online,
• Membatasi konten internet yang dapat diakses oleh komputer. Terdapat beberapa solusi keamanan internet yang dapat anda lakukan di rumah dengan menggunakan aplikasi (SWG - security web gateway) yang sudah ada pada sistem operasi anda ataupun aplikasi “third-party” (perlu di-install terlebih dahulu). Langkah awal yang paling mudah dan telah ada seperti fitur keamanan yang terdapat pada browser, contoh: pada Internet Explorer terdapat fitur “Content Advisor” yang dapat anda aktifkan / enable (fitur ini terdapat di menu : Tools - Internet Option – content) secara default fitur ini tidak aktif / disable,
• memberikan beberapa pedoman kepada anak anda tentang apa yang boleh dan tidak boleh ketika mereka sedang online. Berikut adalah beberapa pertanyaan yang harus anda perhatikan:
  Apakah anda membiarkan anak anda untuk....
  1. Terdaftar di situs “social networking” (misal: facebook, twitter, dll) atau website lainnya ?
  2. Melakukan transaksi online ?
  3. Men-download (mengunduh) file-file musik, video, atau program-program ?
  4. Menggunakan aplikasi / program “instant messaging” (yahoo messenger, gtalk, mirc, dll) ?
  5. Mengakses “chat room” (ebuddy, facebook chat, google talk, dll) ?
  (jika terdapat jawaban “ya” pada dua pertanyaan terakhir diatas (4 dan 5), berilah pengertian kepada anak anda untuk tidak melakukan komunikasi (chat) pada orang yang tidak dikenal atau hanya baru dikenal via internet
  Jawaban tersebut dapat berubah seiring dengan bertambahnya usia / kedewasaan anak anda.
• Lakukanlah langkah-langkah di atas untuk melindungi komputer anda dari program-program berbahaya (malicious program) dan konten berbahaya, serta jelaskan pula kepada anak anda bahwa hal tersebut dapat melindungi mereka,

Sumber : Kaspersky lab.
Link : http://www.kaspersky.com/keeping_children_safe