Expert’s tips on how to play safe online
Know what you’ve posted about yourself.”
Padayachee said a common method hackers used to break into financial or other accounts was 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, hometown, high school class, father’s middle name, on your social networking site. If the site allows, make up your own password questions, and don’t draw them from material anyone could find with a quick search,” he advised.
Padayachee urged the public not to trust that a message really was from whom it said it was.
“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.”
He urged the public to avoid giving away e-mail addresses of friends and not to allow social networking services to scan their e-mail address book.
“When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your e-mail address and password to find out if your contacts are on the network. The site might use this information to send e-mail messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone you’ve ever sent an e-mail message to with that e-mail address.”
He said social networking sites should explain that they’re going to do this, but some do not.
“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 e-mail or another website, you might be entering your account name and password into a fake site where your personal information could be stolen.”
He further advised that social media users be selective about who they accept as a friend on a social network.
“Identity thieves might create fake profiles to get information from you.
“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.”
He urged the public to assume that everything they put on a social networking site was 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. Be careful about installing extras on your site. Many social networking sites allow you to download thirdparty applications that let you do more with your personal page.”
He said criminals sometimes used these applications to steal other people’s personal information.
“To download and use thirdparty applications safely, take the same safety precautions that you take with any other program or file you download from the Web.
“Think twice before you use social networking sites at work and clicking on links like #deadpose will open up your social media account for someone to try and hack your social media accounts.”
Padayachee said there were some very sick people who used social media to target victims.
“Talk to your kids about social networking. Sometimes, it’s just safer to switch off your devices and cut down your social media time,” he said.
“Be safe and secure, always double-check everything, because you can never be sure about your information being safe online.”