Protecting Yourself on Internet Social Network

The internet has provided a good platform for Nigerians to interact, connect with old pals and meet people all over the world cutting across barriers like distance, culture, language, age, sex etc. they are great avenues to meet and network with people sharing similar interests. Now someone in Gusau can easily maintain a relationship with someone in Agbor. Now, information floods us at the speed of 3G networks through mobile applications like Operamini, BBM, 2go, Whatsapp and forums like Nairaland, Naijapals that has redefined how we relate and interact with each other. 

I understand that there are six different types of social media: collaborative projects ( Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs ( Twitter), content communities (YouTube), social networking sites (Facebook), virtual game worlds (World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (Second Life), the last two are hardly known in Nigeria. 

Enough of story, listed below are few tips on how to protect yourself from the security challenges they pose.

Protecting yourself

• ·         Reduce the amount of personal information you post/give out       Do not post information like your personal  names and address, exact location , phone numbers, job titles, birth dates, schedule details that could make you vulnerable to identity theft issues.  Never post information you don’t want anyone else to see. Potential employers sometimes check employees profile to make their choice.
• ·         Check out strangers         Internet Social Networking creates a medium that makes it easy for people to misrepresent their identities and motives. Limit the people you connect with as friends. Be cautious when interacting with people you don't know. Many people have fallen victim of fraudsters.
• ·         Be skeptical     Don't believe everything you read or see online(especially broadcast messages). A lot of people post false or misleading information about different things, including their own identities. This might not be done with malicious intent; it could be unintentional, an exaggeration, a joke or just to gain cheap popularity, . Try to verify the authenticity of any information before taking any action.
• ·         Be sure to use the Privacy settings              While most people think this is a waste of time, it is necessary because the default settings for these sites may allow anyone to see your profile, so you take time out to use these settings to restrict access to only people you want. Make it a duty to review your settings regularly because these sites change their policies without notice.
• ·         Third-party applications and add-ons           In as much as they provide entertainment or functionality, these applications extract information about yourself and your friends, so be sure to use caution when enabling them and avoid those that seem suspicious. More so, social sites don’t have control on what third-parties use your information for.
• ·         Passwords          Protect your account with passwords that cannot be easily guessed, and do not use the same password across different sites because if your password is known, someone else can access all your account and pretend it is you or obtain useful information.
• ·         Update your Softwares    Software vendors usually equip new versions of their softwares with the latest security measures to help combat known problems or vulnerabilities, so be sure to always update/get the latest version of your softwares, this includes antivirus, browers and your operating system.

More will be coming in few days be sure to bookmark this blog and check back.