Lionheart Assurance Solutions Presents Preventing Identity Theft – Strategy For Safe Social Networking
Hacking is a huge problem online today. It’s all too common for users of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to find at some point that their accounts have been compromised or their passwords changed without authorization. Owners of these social networking sites now consider security their primary concern since they are under immense pressure to offer safe features to their users. Users want features which keep them safe from hackers.
Most social networking sites do not have adequate security in place and do not use SSL. This makes each session ID used by all users available on proxy. That is the information hackers use to break into accounts. In one recent example, Twitter was hacked due to administration failure. It is also well known that YouTube hackers from around the world use cross-scripting failure to enter invalid or virus-infected information to interfere with the system and hack into accounts. This is done to obtain personal data illegally.
It’s quite clear you are extremely vulnerable to Identity Theft every time you use these social networking sites. Too often, users from all around the globe have unlimited blind faith when it comes to friends on these networking sites. Many users will even share personal information through one of these sites at some point. A survey revealed that one in three users have at least three pieces of personal information posted on their accounts. This information is often their name, postal address, or phone number. A professional hacker can take these bits of information and steal your identity through the internet. It can harm you considerably offline as well!
Let’s look at some precautions you can take to use Social Networking sites safely. This will reduce your risk of becoming a victim of Identity Theft:
Never trust someone you don’t know in real life as your online friend because they could just as well be scammers looking to take advantage of your trust. Never share any type of personal information with someone you have not met or seen in person.
Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends that you reject all unknown friend requests or requests from any person who claims to be a friend of a friend. Check with the real life friend to ensure they actually know the person in real life first.
Never display any personal information online, no matter what the circumstances may be. Do not share your street address, phone number, relative names or bank account numbers through any type of website. Remember hackers are constantly watching for such information to take steal your identity.
Most social networking sites provide personal security settings on all accounts, but most users do not realize they are even there. Always use available features, especially locking your account and all photographs so that only your invited friends have access.
Security Freeze: search for the words “credit freeze” or “security freeze” on any search engine and learn how to set this up for yourself. These programs lock your credit and prevent others from opening accounts of any type under your name. This instantly stops hackers from using any information found online.
Account Monitoring: monitor your credit and bank accounts so you can catch it early if someone does make use of your identity.
Identity Recovery Assistance: if you fear your identity has been compromised, you must report it immediately to the authorities. Quick action can limit the damages long term.
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Thanks for including this in the Lionheart Assurance Scam Prevention Toolkit. Great info, Lionheart Assurance Solutions!
Adam B.
30 Dec 09 at 1:22 am
I always treat friend requests from people I don’t know as suspicious. This is just one more reason to only accept friend requests on Facebook from people I know. I also have all my privacy settings on the highest level. Facebook keeps changing, so I try to go in regularly and make sure my security settings are still set to where only my friends can see my information. You can never be too careful in this day and age, as this article from Lionheart Assurance Solutions shows.
Alice S.
5 Feb 10 at 1:27 pm