The Public Eye with Eric Chabrow

16 Ways to Stay Safe on Facebook

A New Guide to Facebook Security
16 Ways to Stay Safe on Facebook

A new, free guide on Facebook security, though geared for users, details the practices chief information security officers and other organizational security practitioners should share with their staffs to assure, not only safe Internet hygiene when workers access Facebook from work, but for use with other social media sites, as well.

A Guide to Facebook Security is, in the words of one of its authors, "fun to read and easy to understand."

In 20 pages, the guide explains how users can protect their accounts, avoid scammers and configure advanced security settings. It shows how to use one-time passwords, secure browsing and track account activity as well as explains why account thieves and malware pushers seek account access.

There's a whole section on avoiding: avoiding clickjacking, avoiding malicious script scam, avoiding account thieves and avoiding Facebook gaming scams.

Here are 16 tips the authors present to stay safe on Facebook:

  1. Only friend people you know.
  2. Create a good password and use it only for Facebook.
  3. Don't share your password.
  4. Change your password on a regular basis.
  5. Share your personal information only with people and companies that need it.
  6. Log into Facebook only once each session. If it looks like Facebook is asking you to log in a second time, skip the links and directly type www.facebook.com into your browser address bar.
  7. Use a one-time password when using someone else's computer.
  8. Log out of Facebook after using someone else's computer.
  9. Use secure browsing whenever possible.
  10. Only download apps from sites you trust.
  11. Keep your anti-virus software updated.
  12. Keep your browser and other applications up to date.
  13. Don't paste script (computer code) in your browser address bar.
  14. Use browser add-ons like Web of Trust and Firefox's NoScript to keep your account from being hijacked.
  15. Beware of "goofy" posts from anyone, even friends. If it looks like something your friend wouldn't post, don't click on it.
  16. Scammers might hack your friends' accounts and send links from their accounts. Beware of enticing links coming from your friend

IT security author Linda McCarthy, a former senior director of Internet safety at Symantec; Keith Watson, a research engineer with Purdue University; and educator and editor Denise Weldon-Siviy wrote the guide.

The authors also established a Facebook page, Own Your Space: A Guide to Facebook Security.



About the Author

Eric Chabrow

Eric Chabrow

Retired Executive Editor, GovInfoSecurity

Chabrow, who retired at the end of 2017, hosted and produced the semi-weekly podcast ISMG Security Report and oversaw ISMG's GovInfoSecurity and InfoRiskToday. He's a veteran multimedia journalist who has covered information technology, government and business.




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