How to be safe on Social Networking Websites, Avoid Hacking

Social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have brought people together and have helped people share their emotions with everyone.

‘Happiness is doubled when shared and sorrows are halved when shared’, these websites have taken this quote to a new level. But some fraudsters like hackers, identity thieves, spammers, virus writers, have started to play with the emotions of these people. People occasionally post their videos, images, posts, but they are unaware of the fact that these posts are subjected to thefts. So, these are some of the tips which should be strictly followed while surfing on social networking sites:

• We should always be aware about what are we actually posting. Professional hackers break into accounts by clicking  ‘forgot password link’ then they break into security questions like birthday, school name or other details by viewing the profile and break our passwords. So if the site allows an option of making an own personal question, then it is always recommended and the question should be highly confidential not accessible by anyone.
• Caution should be practiced while clicking on links received through messages. These should be treated just as links in e-mails are treated.
• Messages sent to us should never be trusted. Prospective hackers break into accounts and send messages as if our friends have sent them. If a  message looks fraudulent then alternative methods should be used to find out its genuineness.
• We should be selective during accepting friend requests. Hackers might create fake profiles and might extract information from us.
• The social networking websites should always be opened by typing it directly into the browser or from bookmarks. If it is accessed from any link then we might enter into some fake profile from where our information could be stolen.
• We should always assume that everything on the networking website is permanent so even if we delete our account, anyone can easily access it and extract our photos and personal information. So, we should be very selective regarding what we are posting.
• A careful watch must be observed while installing applications from third parties. These parties do more than what they promise and extract our personal information.
• We should always give a second chance to our thoughts before entering into any social networking website. Because just as words and milk once spilled cannot be retrieved back, in the same way information once entered into these sites become permanent.
• These social networking websites must be selected very carefully as these require to enter personal information. The same vigilance followed by us while entering our monetary credentials should be followed while entering information into these websites.
• We should always have group discussions on these topics so that we become more informative and more vigilant.
• We should never allow these websites to access our e-mail book as prospective hackers might get all the e-mail id’s and might send fraud e-mails to anyone or might perform other activities.

So, keeping these basic steps in mind and always remaining updated, we can assume ourselves to be safe in this world of social networking.