The frequency of web sites, e-mail accounts, and domain names getting stolen seems to be increasing among my circle of acquaintances.  These instances have lead to defacement of people’s blogs and, much worse, identity theft.  It’s an ugly business, but a serious one as hacking has become a billion dollar business to cyber criminals that typically starts with exposed targets like your e-mail address.  Social engineering, phishing, and brute force attacks are most common to get your personal account information.  That being said, if you have a presence online you should get familiar with securing the basics for a few minutes, or else risk the hours and days of struggling to reclaim what was stolen.

Below are some tips to provide readers with a clear understanding that, if applied, can make it much harder for online criminals to affect you.

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Concerns around security and personal information have recently stirred up Washington in the last two months, and online social media privacy appears to be in the vortex.  With all this news chatter, I was recently asked how I protect my privacy and security, while still enjoying social media.  My answer was shorter than this blog – the responsibility of protecting your privacy and your family starts with being smart about the initial choice you make (i.e. joining a social network or media site), and then every choice you make afterwards (i.e. updating your chosen sites).  First and foremost, you need to educate yourself about your rights and responsibilities on social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google.  Know what you’re getting into before you jump in with loads of personal information.  It can be tough to restrain yourself from adding too much information, so that buddy of yours from day camp 10 or 20 years ago will recongize you online all grown up.  Just remember that you’re one potential user about to join over half a billion other users and adding this information to a semi-public domain on the Internet - your definition of privacy is not necessarily what makes the rules.   [Read more →]