Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“It doesn’t matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don’t appreciate your genius for inventing the internet-”
“You invented the internet?”
It was my idea, Martha said.
Rats are delicious, George said.
“It was my idea!” Hermes said. “I mean the internet, not the rats. But that’s not the point.”

Protecting Your Facebook Account from Being Disclosed

Facebook has become the Google of social networks. We post tons of intimate details about our lives that we normally wouldn’t share with anyone. We think that as long as we make sure our privacy settings are set correctly that we are safe and acquaintance within our circle of friends. The problem is that we never know who’s really looking at our information. Our friend’s account could have been hacked when they installed some rogue application, or their creepy uncle might be using their account because they forgot to log out. Below are settings in Facebook that you can use to protect your personal account being disclosed or hacked by someone others that have bad intention towards you.

1. Enable SSL Encryption. Facebook applies SSL encryption to all browsing done on the site, and it is strongly recommended if you use public computers or access points, such as at coffee shops, airports or libraries. To enable this security feature, visit your Account Settings page, and then choose “Security” from the options on the left side of the screen. Here, you will be able to see whether this option, “Secure Browsing,” is enabled or disabled. Click “Edit” to enable it. Please take note that encrypted pages take longer to load in this mode and that not all third-party apps may support it.

2. Be Wary of Information You Share. The information you share in your profile may seem harmless, but particular pieces are popular with hackers. Take, for example, your birthday. This piece of data is sometimes used in security questions. Disclosing it at wall could put you at risk. It is recommended for you opting out of the feature that lets you and your friends check you into places. Navigate to your Privacy Settings page and click “Edit Settings” next to “How Tags Work.” Then, turn it off.

3. Use Applications and Games Sparingly. App passwords are one-time passwords you use to log into your apps, without needing to enter your Facebook password. To get an app password, go to your Account Settings, then select the Security tab. Click “Edit” next to App Passwords, then follow the prompts.

It is recommended paying careful attention to which applications have the ability to write on your wall or message friends, as this could be used to propagate something malicious. Also, check to see what information the application is able to access about you and what content it can read for example your wall, posts and photos. Applications may use a number of permissions. Because of this, it is best to limit your applications to those that you actually use and have a level of trust for.

4. Log Out of Facebook When You’re Done. When you’re finished browsing Facebook, be sure you log out. This will prevent threats, such as ‘Likejacking,’ that leverage logged-in sessions to Facebook. Likejacking is a form of clickjacking, or the malicious technique of tricking users into posting status update for a site they did not intentionally mean to like. If you have forgotten to log out of Facebook from a computer or mobile device, you can do so remotely. From your Account Settings page, click the “Security” tab on the left. Select “Edit” next to Active Sessions. The following information will show you where you’re logged in on other devices, when you last accessed it and the device. To log out of any of the sessions, just click “End Activity.”

When you browsing Facebook, there is some information that you should never post on Facebook. Here are 5 things you should consider removing or not posting to Facebook or other social networks.

1. You or Your Family’s Full Birth Dates. We all love getting happy birthdays from our friends on our Facebook wall. It makes us feel warm inside knowing that people remembered and cared enough to write us a short note on our special day. The problem is when you list your birthday you are providing identity thieves with one of the three or four pieces of personal information that is needed to steal your identity. It’s best to not list the date at all, but if you must, at least leave out the year.

2. Your Relationship Status. Whether you are in a relationship or not, it may be best not to make it public knowledge. Stalkers would love to know that you just became newly single. If you change your status to single it gives them the green light they were looking for to resume stalking now that you’re back on the market. It also lets them know that you might be home alone since your significant to other is no longer around. Your best bet is to just leave this blank on your profile.

3. Your Current Location. There are a lot of people who love the location tagging feature on Facebook that allows them to let people know where they are 24/7. The problem is that you have just told everyone that you’re on vacation (and not at your house). If you add how long your trip is then thieves know exactly how much time they have to rob you. My advice is not to provide your location at all. You can always upload your vacation pictures when you get home or text your friends to let them know how jealous they should be that you’re sipping an umbrella drink while they toil away at work.

4. The Fact That You Are Home Alone. It is extremely important that parents make sure their children never put the fact that they are home alone in their status. Again, you wouldn’t walk into a room of strangers and tell them you are going to be all alone at your house so don’t do it on Facebook either. We may think that only our friends have access to our status, but we really have no idea who is reading it. Your friend may have had their account hacked or someone could be reading over their shoulder at the library. The best rule of thumb is not to put anything in your profile or status that you wouldn’t want a stranger to know. You may have the most stringent privacy settings possible, but if your friend’s account gets compromised than those settings go out the window.

5. Pictures of Your Kids Tagged With Their Names. We love our kids. We would do anything to keep them safe, but most people post hundreds of tagged pictures and videos of their kids to Facebook without even giving it a second thought. We even go so far as to replace our profile pictures with that of our children. This kind of information could be used by predators to lure your child. They could use your child’s name and the names of their relatives and friends to build trust and convince them that they are not really a stranger because they know detailed information that allows them to build a rapport with your child. If you must post pictures of your children then you should at least remove personally identifying information such as their full names and birth dates.

 

Learn More…

5 Things You Should Never Post on Facebook, Andy O’Donnell, About.com Guide, http://netsecurity.about.com/od/newsandeditorial1/a/Facebook-Security-5-Things-You-Should-Never-Post-On-Facebook.htm

4 Facebook Security Tips to Stay Safe in 2012, Kristin Burnham, December 08, 2011, http://www.cio.com/article/696212/4_Facebook_Security_Tips_to_Stay_Safe_in_2012_

Curbing Your Internet Addiction

Source: http://www.google.com/image

Internet and video game addiction starts young. Most young men are given computer or video games when they are five or six years old and therefore their childhood development is profoundly wired for these activities. Impact of the addiction causing their health getting poor, their social relationships have turned to crap, and they have no social confidence or real-world friends.

Most of the people wanted to have life balance between technology and social life. Somehow, they just can’t let go their iPhone, Smartphone from their hand in updating their status in social media. Here are some tips on how to curb your internet addiction that may help you put all your gadgets de-activated for a while;

Do something in real life.  After a particularly long online browsing session, do something productive offline. Go for a walk outside for instant. Get a fresh air and try to relax your muscles. It may help you to be away from continuously browsing the internet. You also can fulfill your time by having dinner with your friends outside, playing football, watching movies, or cook for your family in order for you to get close and in touch with your love ones.

Use the Internet for the same amount of time each time you use it. In other words, don’t say “I’ll only be on an hour today.” and then be on 5 hours the next and think you did well. A good time for daily Internet usage is 1 hour, or 2 hours at the most. You can set a timer for this so you do not go off track. By doing this, you actually be able to control yourself by not keeping on using the internet. You may only use the internet when you have something to do with such online payment for bills, replying urgent emails etc.

Try deactivating (not deleting) your personal Facebook/ Twitter account. Trust me; you won’t miss it as much as you think you might. You can always reactivate it, but taking a break might do you some good.

Delete accounts that you really don’t need anymore. How many websites are there that you have accounts on that you don’t 100% need? YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace… sometimes people need their MySpace or Facebook for important things, like keeping in touch with people who don’t live nearby, but YouTube and Twitter and Facebook are normally the accounts that MUST be deleted. Twitter/ Facebook is such a waste of time, and it’s quite addicting, while YouTube is also addicting, and people you don’t know want to interact too much. If you don’t want to delete your account, just block the pages.

Be sure to maintain lots of offline activities. Have plenty of things to do that you enjoy. If you don’t have other hobbies, start looking for some. Travelling might be good if you are affordable to do so. Visiting new place and new culture will actually broaden your knowledge and experience too. You may surprise for something that you even don’t know of its existing. So, by any chance if you have please go for travel. Volunteering can be a great way to get you out and about doing something useful/ helpful to the community. Do whatever you want just to maintain lots of offline activities.

All of these tips are not that you can’t use the Internet at all, but use the right amount of time you’re supposed/ you need to. Live your life more fully; go out, hang out with your friends, see a movie. Please remember what you’ve seen, this will change your life toward a great happy ordinary human being. Please stop using the Internet so much, for your own good. Be active and free now, get off your computer, have fun and do your work/ job away from the electronic task-maker!

 

Read More…

Life in the age of internet addiction, “The vast majority of the American population is mildly addicted to technology”, Ned Hepburn, January 24, 2013, http://theweek.com/article/index/239243/life-in-the-age-of-internet-addiction

5 tips for curbing your Internet addiction, Kevin Allen, February 21, 2013, http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/5_tips_for_curbing_your_Internet_addiction_13889.aspx#

How to Stop Internet Addiction, Sondra C, AutisticMajor, Maluniu, Sunsetcliff, http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Internet-Addiction