‘Social Media’ Articles

Yesterday, Google revealed its new social networking tool, Google Buzz. This is a new way to see status messages, picture updates, and Buzz messages of your friends straight through your Gmail account. In some respects, it is very similar to tweets and Facebook status updates, but with the technology and cross-promotion that only Google can deliver. Just as Facebook has tried to combine social media (profiles, messages, pictures, status updates) in one place, Google is attempting to do the same with your email inbox.

What can seem like an innocent way to update friends, if not used correctly, can post  personal and seemingly private information in both the public stream and for those in your geographic vicinity. Read more about Google Buzz and Your Privacy Settings here.

PC World has written an article discussing the the most pressing questions about Google Buzz. It touches on things like how advertisements will be targeted to you based upon your status updates. I can only imagine that this would be very similar to how they currently use the content of your email messages to place targeted ads on your gmail screen.

As with any social networking site, be vigilant, as what you post can be made public, not only to your close friends, but to the world. With any social media the main privacy issue to remember is that all posts are public, permanent, and exploitable.

What began in early 2009 as a free ‘information network’ that offers users the ability to microblog may have already reached the top. A new CNN article discusses how the number of Twitter users has flattened out and even deccreased recently. In July 2009, the site had 21.2 million users which dropped to 19.9 users only 5 months later in December.

Some believe this slump is due to Twitter’s inability to keep up with its users and others are finding the site less and less useful. Perhaps people are less inclined to put so much personal information on the World Wide Web, knowing that everything you post is public, permanent and exploitable. Or maybe we’re just tired of seeing how boring the average person’s day is.

Click Here to read this entire article.

John Sileo became one of America’s leading Social Networking Speakers & Identity Theft Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

That is the best way to Think Like A Spy and be alert of Social Engineers that are trying to manipulate you.  With such a gloomy economy and many people without work, offers for fast cash and huge discounts become more and more attractive. Most of these Identity Theft cases use the technique of Social Engineering.

Social Engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information by playing on their human emotions. The term typically applies to deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim. These days most thieves can nab your identity over the phone, mail, email, and through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

While some schemes scam you into giving out social security numbers, bank account numbers or other confidential identity pieces, others are as simple as a pickpocket distracting you emotionally while another thief steals your wallet or purse. Here are what a few of the most widely used savvy cyber attacks look like:

• Phony charitable phishing scams, many of which are designed to look as if they come from real charities. Always enter in the exact URL for the Charity that you wish to donate to rather than clicking on a link.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi — Washington socialites are not just known for their possible roles in the upcoming “The Real Housewives of Washington,” but for being seen arriving at the White House State Dinner. The problem was that they weren’t on the guest list, but managed to work their way inside what is supposed to be the most secure party.

The couple took to Facebook to document their party-crashing, and on Wednesday, Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page included photos of the couple at the dinner. The Salahis weren’t exposed until journalists caught sight of pictures showing the Salahis posing with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others. In the aftermath, the security breach looked more like a publicity stunt than a security threat.  The Secret Service admitted that they did not verify at each checkpoint that this couple was on the invitation list. In other words, they missed the second cardinal rule of security, Verify.

News stories like this bring Facebook Privacy into the spotlight once again. Facebook is becoming used more and more in legal cases and as evidence for both the  prosecution and the defense. Last month, Facebook was used to prove that a crime suspect was posting a status message from his father’s apartment in Harlem and not mugging a victim at gun-point. The charges were immediately dropped.

During a time when rules, laws and privacy settings are having trouble keeping up with technology, Facebook is having trouble keeping up with their ever growing population. Recently topping 350 million users, Facebook is scrambling to satisfy them all. Recently, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, posted an open letter on the website discussing changes to the Facebook privacy setting that they are implementing to help make their users data less public. Take a minute to read the full article and protect your profile.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC.  To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

Can the Law keep up with technology?

CNN has a new article that addresses this growing issue. Cases are continuing to pop up based on an offense or crime committed in cyberspace. Five years ago suing someone for allegedly slamming you on Twitter would have been unimaginable.  But just recently an apartment tenant is being sued for $50,000 in damages after she took to her twitter to complain about her living situation to another user.
Many legal experts are watching these cases carefully because they will lay the groundwork for these unaddressed areas of the law. They said that in this growing age of technology it takes almost 5 years to play catch up with current American law. Lawmakers are unable to predict the next big wave in technology and the legal issues that will follow. With such a severe gray area when it comes to Social Media and your Privacy, society must be able to balance accountability with free speech.

Click Here to read more on this CNN article.

John Sileo provides identity theft training to human resource departments and organizations around the country. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

Facebook safety has a direct correlation to your business’s bottom line.

Facebook, and social networking sites in general, are in an awkward stage between infancy and adulthood – mature in some ways, helpless in others. On the darker side of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, scammers and identity thieves are drooling at the sight of this unchecked data playground. In contrast, most social networkers are addicted to all of the friendships they are creating and renewing.

There is no denying that Facebook and other social networking sites have a very luring appeal.  You can sit in the comfort of your own home and suddenly have a thriving social life.  You can look up old friends, make new ones, build business relationships and create a profile for yourself that highlights only your talents and adventures while conveniently leaving out all your flaws and troubles.  It is easy to see why Facebook has acquired over 200 million users worldwide in just over five years. Which is why Facebook safety is still so immature: Facebook’s interface and functionality has grown faster than security can keep up.

Unfortunately, most people dive head first into this world of social connectedness without thinking through the ramifications of all the personal information that is now traveling at warp speed through cyberspace.  It’s like being served a delicious new drink at a party, one that you can’t possibly resist because it is so fun and tempting and EVERYONE is having one.  The downside? Nobody is thinking about the information hangover that comes from over-indulgence: what you put on the Internet STAYS on the internet, forever. And sometimes it shows up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, in the hands of a prospective employer or your boss’s inbox. All of the personal information that is being posted on profiles — names, birth dates, kids’ names, photographs, pet’s names (and other password reminders), addresses, opinions on your company, your friends and your enemies — all of it serves as a one-stop shop for identity thieves.  It’s all right there in one neat little package and all a scammer has to do to access it is become your “friend”.

Follow these Five Facebook Safety Tips and save yourself the trouble…

Is there such a thing as Facebook Privacy? Or Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social networking/media sites? I’m not convinced that any of us really know the answer yet. I think we so-called privacy experts talk a big game, but the subject is still maturing, and definitely up for debate.

Who owns the data on Facebook? Who has access to the information stored in the Cloud? Are your Tweets admissible in court?

To register for the Webinar, please visit:

http://www.brighttalk.com/webcasts/4971/attend.

I look forward to having you participate.

Facebook Privacy?