How to ensure online safety of social networking ?

Social networkers Attention: digital communities are facing increased threats online. The accessibility and popularity of social networking sites are among the main reasons that these communities are targeted by malware, scams, identity theft and extortion schemes. Does the risk of saying that you should abandon blogs, update your resume online, or reconnect with friends lost sight of your favorite sites? Absolutely not. As with most risks online, a little caution and awareness go a long way in terms of outweighing the potential pitfalls. Keep these essentials in mind that you socialize online.

1. Be careful what you post

- once shared online, your private information are no longer private. Before posting any personal information, consider the amount of data you want available about yourself online. Even information that seems trivial to you in May, at first sight can be useful to fraudsters. Keep in mind - just because you delete the information or even an online profile complete, it is not necessarily lost forever. Online information can be easily copied, transmitted, or cached. The fact is that you never know who may be at the receiving end of the data that you are online or send to others.

You should also keep a tight hand on the information you share on the other. When signing up a new networking site, many will offer to scan your address book e-mail to search for other friends on the network. Avoid doing so - the networking site may use this information to send messages to all your contacts.

2. Be careful what you eat

- Do not click on unsolicited messages. You've heard the mantra of security applied to e-mail, but it comes to social networking sites. The catch: you'll also need to watch for imposters, you must be careful, even if the links appear to come from a friend. Fraudsters can easily hack into accounts in order to send messages that appear as if they come from a friend.

3. Read our privacy policy

- Before using the network or Web 2.0 sites, be sure to review carefully the organization and how your personal information will be used or monitored. Reading the privacy policy is an effective way of knowing what your rights are and decide if you want to join a particular site.

You should also read the safety tips, FAQs, and provides information to learn about the privacy and security checks. Most sites have privacy controls that you can enable by changing the settings on your account, letting you set your profile to private so that only those you invite can see the information you post. Make sure to take advantage of these features when available.

4. Use applications and extras sparingly

- You can download and install third party applications and extras that work with social networking sites you use. This can be fun or to add functionality to your networking experience, such as games or customizing your page. Software applications that are available for download to run on the site may not undergo any type of safety authorization, audit or examination. These applications can potentially be exploited by cyber thieves to compromise your information. As you must download it before or installing any new applications or files, be sure to exercise caution and make sure your PC is updated with the latest patches and security software current.

5. Watch for children, teens and tweens

- The social networking sites are no longer limited primarily to adolescents and college students, but they are certainly still very popular among this age group. Your child may be old enough to know how to use the Internet or networking sites, but this does not necessarily mean that they are able to do so responsibly without supervision, or to manage any situation that may arise Online . Social networking sites can give rise to children and young adults to many unfavorable aspects of the Internet - including bullying, online predators and cyber scams.

If many sites take positive steps to work together to prevent abuse and protect the interests of minors, be sure to arm young people in your life with information that can help them make decisions safely. In addition to preparing you to face the threats you may face on social networking sites with the above steps, make sure your computer is prepared with essential protection; familiar software security to keep your online security include anti-spyware, anti-virus and firewall.

By William Conrad