If you have an account on Facebook, MySpace, Classmates, Habbo, Flickr, LinkedIn, Blogspot or Xanga, you know how easy it is to build a web of friends and acquaintances and share with them your interests, contact information, photos, class schedule and even your feelings. What you may not realize is the information that gets posted on these sites may well be around for years and viewed by future employers as well as by crooks.
Too much information
Even though the majority of the people using these social networking sites don't pose a threat, there are phishers (hackers who mislead Internet users into giving away personal information), thieves, stalkers and sexual predators who scour MySpace and Facebook sites looking for home addresses, phone numbers, schedules and anything that can be used to steal your identity, figure out where you're going or determine when you're not home (so they can break into your apartment, etc.) And what used to be a safe place for college students to blog, post photos and chronicle their lives is now often used by parents to keep tabs on their kids and by prospective employers to evaluate employment candidates.
In 2007, Facebook enabled user profiles to become searchable through its new Public Search Listings. If you have a profile posted on Facebook and don't want your name and profile picture indexed by one of the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN Search, you need to edit your Facebook privacy settings.
Tips
Consider restricting access to your profile. Allowing strangers to learn everything about you is risky.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Keep your private information private. Never post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, financial information or schedule.
Choose a screen name that is different than your real name.
Think twice before posting your photo.
Don't post information that makes you vulnerable to a physical attack. Revealing where you plan to meet your friends, your class schedule or your street address is almost an open invitation for someone to find you. Remember that a photo of you in front of the Frontier tells strangers you are in Albuquerque and quite likely attending UNM.
Be suspicious. Don't take any information you receive from an online contact at face value. The Internet makes it easy for people to say or do things they would never say or do in public or in face-to-face interactions. Protecting yourself is the smart thing to do.
If you have questions about computer security or have ideas for future topics, please feel free to contact me at Mcarr@unm.edu.
Mike Carr is UNM's director of information assurance.
