A "Gentle Reminder" for everyone to be extra vigilant with their Privacy!

Many of us actually turn a blind eye to the fact our private information is being, as this Australian reporter puts it, furiously scooped up by corporations, governments and others.

Why? Because we see it as a harmless tradeoff for whatever convenience or bit of entertainment we get in return. However, as this video details, more consumers are becoming aware of exactly what that tradeoff entails. And they're coming to it through social experiments like the one conducted in Australia. A reporter arranged for baristas to behave like an online app. After taking the java order, the baristas asked their customers to give them details like their home addresses or their last four text messages. The coffee buyers were super uncomfortable.

As we see in the video, the sharing of private information is no longer viewed as a harmless tradeoff when put in the faces of consumers. It's viewed with skepticism and dismay, just as some may argue, it always should be. The other day, a friend told me the fast-food restaurant chain app she downloaded asked for access to her camera and all the photos and videos stored on it!

The takeaway? Pay closer attention to the information your new apps are asking to access. If something throws up a red flag, investigate. Or simply don't install the app.

Facebook’s Browser-spying Campaign

Facebook using the browsing data of its members to target the ads of its advertising partners

The Facebook used by billions is sharing its users' online behavior in ways it previously said we could opt out of. 

As Venture Beat reports, anytime a Facebook user visits a site with a "Like" button (any site, not just a Facebook page), that visit is stored by Facebook and used to better target the ads of its advertising partners. No need for the user to actually click the Like button. The page visit is enough to trigger the storage of user data.

I actually tested this by visiting several types of websites I've never visited before. Low and behold, I started seeing ads for associated items on my Facebook page.

There are a few tools that allow you to block sites like Facebook from inserting tracking code into your browser. Learn about them here. 

What Becomes Of Your Online Accounts After You Die?

...until death do us part

Have you ever wondered what becomes of your online accounts after you die? The Washington Post recently looked into the question, and reports that "The immortality of one's digital accounts is one of the more morbid philosophical wrinkles of modern life."

Here are a few of the take-aways from the article: Family who want to access these accounts often can't. Digital asset laws vary greatly by state and country.

The spookiest take-away: Artificial intelligence-like technology may someday Tweet in a user's voice after he or she dies.

Facebook Users should enable Two-Factor Authentication

Securing Your Facebook Account With 2-Factor Authentication

This Facecrooks article discusses a very important topic - "Securing your Facebook profile" - and gives step-by-step instructions for enabling two-factor authentication. The idea is to keep out anyone attempting to access your profile from a device Facebook doesn't recognize.

Astoundingly, two years ago at least  13 million U.S. Facebook users didn't use or weren't aware of the social network's privacy control settings. Based on various news reports covering Facebook privacy, it is anticipated that this number has not gotten smaller, but more likely has increased (perhaps by a significant amount now that there are more than a billion active mobile Facebook users).  

How many of these millions are within your employee, patient or customer communities? How does this impact you personally, or put your own information at risk? Remember, your privacy can be impacted simply by being associated with "friends" who don't activate their privacy control settings. 

Understanding how your stakeholders use Facebook and other social networks is a critical component to protecting yourself, your organization and the people it serves.   

How To Stop Your Face From Appearing in Ads?

Imagine Your Face in Google Ads

When it comes to developers of popular free tools, Google is king. Yet the tradeoffs for using tools like YouTube, Gmail and Google+ are becoming clearer. For instance, starting November 11, Google will be able to include Google+ users' faces, names and comments in ads. Configured as a default, the policy is one that users must opt out of if they do not want their images projected in marketing messages.

Here's exactly how to stop your face from appearing in what are being called "adver-dorsements" (at least for now, until Google+ changes again):

• Navigate to Shared Endorsements in Google+ settings.
• Uncheck the box next to "Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads."

Understand that this will not stop your network from being able to see those companies and brands that you have liked (or in Google+ language, plus-one'd).

If this makes you uncomfortable, simply stop hitting +1 and do not leave any reviews on Google products.  

How Much Information You Are Leaving Online?

Do you ever feel like you're being followed?

Perhaps that's because you are. While it may not be the boogeyman who's hot on your trail, there are many groups of watchers who have made it their business to know as much about you as possible.

Each day, we are tracked by the 'smart' systems, mobile apps, personal communication devices and other surveillance platforms that have become commonplace in our daily lives. In an effort to educate more people about the data trails they are leaving behind (and the companies, data bureaus and marketers who are sniffing out that trail).

How comprehensive profiles Google is capable of building based on all the information we voluntarily share?

How valuable your online information is to burglars?

Notice all they can get off of *your* social network sites...and those of your friends, family and co-workers. Be aware of what you put out there!

For those of you in charge of or influencing your company privacy policies, consider how you are gathering and sharing your customers' data. Are you doing so in a manner that is transparent and compliant?

5 Quick Lessons on Privacy

Privacy Matters - How Easily Someone Could Hack Into Your Life?

Being diligent about your personal privacy is a learned behavior. Often the best way to practice is to take a closer look at the every-day activities in which you and your friends, colleagues and family members take part. 

Below are some quick-hit resources that serve as good reminders of the privacy threats we are exposed to each day.

• A Quick Guide to YouTube Privacy 
• The Financial Dangers of Retailer Prepaid Cards
• Why Your WiFi May Be On, Even When It's Off
• Ramifications of Hacking a Friend's Facebook Account (not that you would do that anyway, right?)
• Just How Hackable Your Life Really Is (infographic)

Privacy: Did You Know?

Here's a quick round-up of some of the technologies and products collecting your information.

• Apple's Siri stores queries for as long as two years.
• Total strangers are recording and publishing the images and/or conversations of others, some with consequences, others without.
• Cars now store information on driver contacts, calls, texts and even home addresses.
• Street-view video cameras and amateur smartphone cameras capture images that can be used to wrongly accuse someone of a crime.  
• Malicious phone chargers are capable of installing malware on smartphones. 

Must-Watch Film On Cyber Crime Awareness

Every social media user should watch this movie!

Sex Matters: Men & Women differ on data security

Surprise: Women are also more likely to take steps to control what's visible to strangers on social media although they take less security precautions online!

Two Microsoft studies have found that when it comes to technology, men and women may have different priorities when it comes to staying safe and secure.

The first study, which surveyed more than 10,000 mobile and desktop users worldwide, found that 35 percent of men kept their mobile devices protected behind a passcode and used secured wireless networks to go online.

Women, the study found, took those same security precautions at a slightly lower rate of 32 percent.

Following that trend, 32 percent of men kept the software on their mobile devices up-to-date, an important defense against malware attacks. Only 25 percent of women did.

The numbers seem to show that men take mobile security slightly more serious than their female counterparts, but also that both sexes adopt these common-sense security precautions at an abysmally low rate.

Jacqueline Beauchere, chief online safety officer at Microsoft, said in a statement. "We know from earlier research that men and women practice mobile safety very differently."

Despite their slight edge in security, men appear to fall victim to mobile-based attacks more frequently than women. They receive slightly more phishing emails, intrusive pop-ups and messages from impostors.

When it comes to defending their reputations, women tend to be more cautious than men about what they're willing to share online, the study found.

Women are also more likely to take steps to control what's visible to strangers on social media. The study also found that women are less cavalier than men when it comes to the content of their text messages.

A different Microsoft survey, this one conducted on Facebook, asked more than 800 people about their mobile pet peeves.

Many respondents cited loud talkers, constant phone checking and socially inappropriate use of mobile phones as among their top annoyances.

10 Great Online Privacy Guides

Best Practice Guidelines for Maintaining Your Privacy Online

I've stumbled across so many great privacy resources online lately, that I just can't keep them to myself. Here's a good collection for you to consider bookmarking.

1. Facebook Privacy Settings Guide   
2. 4 Tips to Keep Your Privacy on LinkedIn 
3. Security and Privacy Tips for Twitter Users 
4. 3 Tips to Keep Your Privacy on Twitter 
5. 3 Tips to Keep Your Privacy on Google+ 
6. Snap Chat Privacy Issues 
7. Help Avoid Instant Message Viruses 
8. Using Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms Safely 
9. A Renter's Guide to Privacy: Top 5 Privacy Tips for Renters 
10. 10 Online Privacy Tips for Librarians (that can be used by anyone)  

How Facebook Got Hacked?

Zero-Day Exploit Bypassed Java Protections to Install Malware

Even the most savvy information technologists aren't immune from cyber-attacks. Just ask Facebook. The social-media titan says it fell victim to a sophisticated attack discovered in January in which an exploit allowed malware to be installed on employees' laptops.

In a blog posted by Facebook Security on Feb. 15, the company said it found no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised.

Here's what happened at Facebook, according to its blog:

Several Facebook employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised.

The compromised website hosted an exploit that then allowed malware to be installed on these employees' laptops. "The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-virus software," the blog says.

"As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement and began a significant investigation that continues to this day." Facebook Security flagged a suspicious domain in its corporate DNS (Domain Name Servers) logs and tracked it back to an employee laptop.

The security team conducted a forensic examination of that laptop and identified a malicious file, and then searched company-wide and flagged several other compromised employee laptops.

The social-media company says it is working with law enforcement and the other organizations affected by this attack. "It is in everyone's interests for our industry to work together to prevent attacks such as these in the future," Facebook says.

The Facebook attack is reminiscent of the 2011 breach at security provider RSA, when a well-crafted e-mail tricked an RSA employee to retrieve from a junk-mail folder and open a message containing a virus that led to a sophisticated attack on the company's information systems

Need To Invest Time In Facebook Privacy

An Embarrassment is Coming

If they don't invest the time in reviewing the information that's been published about them, Facebook users are in for a potentially embarrassing surprise. That's because Facebook is working toward making more of its content searchable with its Graphs Search feature. 

What will be searchable? All the information (personal, professional, pictorial) you post, and that other Facebook users post about you. Additionally, your likes, and in many cases simply the websites you've visited that have hooks back into Facebook, will be searchable.

This article explains it well, and in it, writer Meghan Kelly gives one of the best analogies for Facebook I have read:

Facebook is like a safe containing a ton of your personal information - which you've purposefully and willfully cracked with an axe.

Beyond searching for what's already out there about you, commit to practicing good social etiquette. Don't "check in" your friends for them (without their knowledge!), post pictures of them they may not appreciate or tag them to one of your posts without their permission. Even the tamest of details may cause trouble for them, not to mention, trouble for your relationship. 

How To Control "Tagging" on Facebook?

Tame the "Tagging"

Being "tagged" on Facebook means another user has added content and publically associated you with that content. A friend may post a picture of you at the beach. By tagging you, that photo will show up on your profile (if your settings allow).

There is a setting in Facebook that allows users to approve any tags before they are posted to their timeline. This blog post on Business2Community does a great job of showing readers exactly how to set Facebook to alert them to requests for tags.

This isn't just a good way to easily give friends permission to tag you; it's an excellent way to keep track of the content in which you've been tagged. Who needs to have someone else associate them with things to which they have no legitimate connection?

The post goes on to explain the difference between Facebook Profiles (now known as "Timelines") and Facebook Pages. There are some unique features about Pages that make these tags post differently, so if you manage a Product, Brand or Person Facebook Page, this will be an especially good article for you. 

For more emerging tagging concerns, see: 

• Tags becoming easier to find
• Disabling tag suggestions
• Difficulty in removing damaging content

More Privacy Changes from Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg's Sister Complains Of Facebook Privacy Breach

In November, Facebook made changes, including several improvements, to its privacy policies. At the same time, those changes allowed everyone who has a Facebook account to become searchable. Whereas users were once able to block certain people from finding them on the social network, that functionality has now been removed.

This has implications for victims of stalkers, violent ex's, or really anyone others are trying to track down. By finding a person in a search, there are ways to then get more information about them through unsecured or unblocked information posted on their Facebook friends' timelines.

The recent changes had some unintended consequences that ultimately resulted in a private photo of no-other-than Mark Zuckerberg going viral.

This is a good example of how you should expect ANYTHING you post online could be seen by the world, even if you think you have privacy settings set correctly.

You can still block certain users from seeing some of your content. However, you will be findable as a Facebook user. Be aware of this, particularly if you have certain people interested in locating you, learning of your connections, your whereabouts or your appearance.

Careful with your Instagrams

Did Instagram ever find itself in hot water just before the holidays!

When the popular photo sharing social network updated its policies on sharing users' images, the backlash was immediate. 

For any Tips readers using Instagram (which is now owned by Facebook), please be aware of the upcoming changes, taking effect January 16.

You will not be able to opt-out. Be sure to read the new Terms of Use; if you don't like them, you may want to delete all your Instagram accounts and content before Jan 16.

In response to the severe negative reaction, Instagram has apologized, saying the misunderstanding is due to what it calls "confusing" language in the Terms of Use statement.

They have promised to revise it and said "it is not our intention to sell your photos." Yet it remains unclear exactly how much access will be given to user content... and to whom.

Stay tuned, as I will be watching the new Terms of Use language closely and will plan to report on it here in the Tips message.

BeAware of Facebook Scams

Scammers are targeting Facebook users

There is a new phishing scheme targeting Facebook users. Falsely notifying the user of a blocked account via email, the scam attempts to get victims clicking - leading them straight to a malicious website that will steal their information. 

See below for example this current social engineering attempt.

If you get an email like this, simple delete and never click anything! Optionally, before deleting you can forward the email to the Facebook security team so they can fight against such scams.

It's your responsibility to protect your data on Facebook!

Marketers are Dying for Your Facebook Data

...and Facebook wants to help them get it. In fact, the social network giant -- now under pressure from stockholders to produce revenue -- has developed new functionality designed to help advertisers better find you on Facebook.

So long as you have voluntarily given your phone number or email address to a company, that company can now use it as a means for searching and locating you on Facebook.

Be sure to check and update your settings on Facebook (and other social sites), as new functionality is added frequently, threatening your assumption of privacy online. Speaking of Facebook, be sure you are aware of another change that could result in having your emails sent to Facebook.

In June, Facebook changed everyone's email address visibility settings to hide the email addresses we purposefully shared with friends, leaving just @facebook.com addresses.

For folks who did not change this back, and for folks using the new iPhones, running iOS 6, this could result in having the preferred email addresses being replaced by @facebook.com addresses...and having sensitive information saved to the Facebook systems (a far-from-secure system to keep email messages). 

See more about it here.

Facebook applications are not always safe!

Apps Dressing Up as Innocent Fun

Many people mistakenly believe that any application found on Facebook has been vetted by Facebook, and is therefore safe. False.

As this article on Facecrooks points out, anyone can create an app for publication on Facebook. Facebook users are also guilty of clicking through the permission screen, potentially missing key information on how the application's developers plan to access their Facebook information (for those that actually provide such information).

Take the time to read these screens thoroughly before clicking OK. If an app does not provide information about how they will use your information, then don't download; it's just not worth the potential problems, no matter how yummy fun the app sounds.

Techniques to Protect Yourself on Social Networks

Security tips from ISACA Journal

Vigilance continues to spearhead the security and, thus, the privacy of the information. It can be broken down into a few techniques that are simple but could make all the difference:

Choice of “friends” and contacts—Users should be extremely careful in their choice of friends on these networks. It is common practice to accept contact from friends of friends who are frequently complete strangers. This can lead to one’s private life being exposed to potentially harmful individuals.

Restricting private content to close friends and family only—Social networking sites are increasingly allowing their users to configure restrictions on access to their information. It is, therefore, important to use these restrictions and to ensure that they are properly configured, given that our information is public by default.

Careful choice of information to be broadcast—The key to the protection of privacy is, in fact, what information one broadcasts. Name, surname, date of birth, place of birth, photos, videos, comments and opinions should be carefully screened prior to being posted. Keep in mind that information posted on a network may one day be used against its author.

Awareness—Every sector of the population should be made aware of the need to protect themselves against the risk that the use of social networks may entail. In the business world, this awareness must form part of the IT security program.

Finally, social networks are a great way to express oneself and share with others. They help users lift the barriers of space and time and communicate with the world. However, there is another side associated with the proven dangers of user privacy violation.

These dangers are even more of a threat now thanks to the increasingly widespread trend of registering on several sites using a single user account. In response to this situation, each Internet user must remain vigilant and governments must put more pressure on the operators of these sites to safeguard the security of Internet users.

Read Guy-Hermann Ngambeket Ndiandukue’s full article, “Social Networks and Privacy—Threats and Protection,” in the current issue of the ISACA Journal, in which you will also find additional coverage of timely and relevant issues affecting the ISACA professional communities.