Open Source Intelligence 101

Instagram is a great social media network if you love sharing pictures with your friends and family as well as the rest of the world, however, Instagram, just like all the other social media platforms out there can open you up to privacy and security risks. It is important that you know how to protect yourself, here are three ways to stay safe and secure on Instagram… Switch your account to private. Take an easy step to ensure your own privacy by changing your account to private and only your followers will be able to see your posts, here’s how: - Go to your profile and tap on the person icon on the bottom right corner of your screen. - Tap on the Settings gear icon. - Select Privacy and Security and then Account Privacy. - Switch on Private Account. Block specific followers. If you have some annoying followers, don’t worry you can block specific people from seeing your posts and they won’t even be notified that they’ve been blocked. Here’s how: - Tap Fol...

Social media users continue to grow every day, with a shocking annual increase of 17%! Massive amounts of data such as photos and posts are shared every day, some of it interesting and some of it pointless, let’s take a look at the 5 golden rules every social media user should always keep in mind… Ignore the trolls. Internet trolls are there to irritate you for fun and you can find them just about anywhere from chats to online forums. What should you do when you spot a troll? Just ignore them! Lots of people like to take the bait and start an intense debate, but someone will always be wrong so don’t waste your time and energy. Don’t post anything illegal. Did you know that you can be fined in New Zealand for trolling and cyberbullying? In other countries posts and reposts on social media networks can have all sorts of serious consequences, so always think before you post something on social media. It may seem like a joke to you at the time, but you should always kee...

Social media sites such as Facebook have a range of scams, one of the most recent being fake fundraising campaigns! The scammers will make an emotional post, provide their banking details and add a couple of sad comments as well. The post will usually be a plea for help for a terminally ill child or to help an animal rescue organization. New scamming groups appear every month, each with similar details and posts and even though they are shut down on a regular basis, people still fall for the scam and pay money to the scammers anyway. How can you spot an online charity scam? Age of the group. The fake charity group will only be a few weeks old and contain barely any posts, but they have been shared and reposted thousands of times. This is usually the first signs that the charity is a scam! A real organization or charity will take a long period of time to become established and there will be multiple posts as well as more information about the cause. Pressure to...

Whether you tweet once a day or constantly tweet updates throughout the day, you need to remember that if you’re using Twitter you need to be aware of the security and privacy risks. Here are five important safety tips to remember when you’re using Twitter. -- Never share personal information It is best to keep all your private information such as your phone number, address and email address, out of your Twitter profile! Geotagging is an optional feature that is able to make your exact location public, it is also best to switch off this setting too. -- Update your password Hackers can easily gain access to your account if you have used a weak, easily guessable password. Use a strong password and change it every few weeks for maximum security. Make sure to include uppercase and lower case letters, numbers and special characters in your passwords every time. -- Never click on suspicious links Often hackers will try a phishing attack on you through your ...

With the rise of social media came the rise of private information becoming accessible to just about anyone who knows how to use the internet!  With the right safety precautions you can still enjoy Facebook and other social media networks, but always make sure to use these safety tips. Make sure your password is secure With all your personal information exposed on Facebook, it can be easy for someone to guess your password. A good password should have a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Don’t friend people you don’t kno w If you don’t know who they are why would you become friends with them? It may seem innocent, but cybercriminals often use fake profiles to send out spam and even steal your personal info. Protect your location While it may seem fun to share a photo of yourself and then add your location, it has some hidden risks. Potential criminals can easily see whether you are home or not, allowing them to take advantage and break in...

Don’t be fooled, Instagram can be just as dangerous as Facebook! Even though this social media network is a favourite for those who love to share every detail of their lives through photos, making sure your account is secure is an important step to take. Keep these five tips in mind and stay safe on Instagram… -- Don’t add your phone number to your profile In the private information section of your profile, keep in mind that less is always more! Even though your cell phone number is meant to be private, it can still be used to help you be “found” on Instagram, so it is best just to leave it out. -- Avoid tagging your location It may seem fun to snap a picture, upload it and tag your location, but remember that you are sharing this information with complete strangers. It’s not ideal that you post on Facebook that you are going away for a week, so it’s not ideal to tag all your Instagram posts. -- Be careful of linked accounts Linking your Instagram with...

While most of us are used to using Facebook and social media networks, a lot of teens are just starting out and exploring the online work. Unfortunately, there are many bad guys online, especially on social media platforms such as Facebook, who are there to take advantage of new or naïve members. Use these safety and security tips and share them with your teen to ensure everyone has a safer experience. Never register for Facebook if you’re under the age of 13. Some teens want an account when they’re only 11 or 12 – not even a teen yet! However, Facebook specifically forbids anyone younger than 13 from registering. Avoid using your real first and middle name. Facebook does not allow fake names, but you can use your nickname as your first or middle name. This will keep online criminals and potential predators from obtaining more information about you. Set strong privacy settings. Not just anyone should be able to see your profile as well as your content and pho...

As of late, an unfortunate number of women have become victims of horrifying crimes and because if this we need to know how to stay safe at all times, this includes staying safe when it comes to cyber-crimes. Did you know that woman as young as 18 experience severe harassment online? Many have been stalked online as well as been the target of online sexual harassment. Because cyber-crime continues to grow and target women, it’s important to always be mindful of the dangers that lurk online. 1. Never share your password.    It may sound pretty silly, I mean, who shares their passwords, right? You would be surprised! A lot of people share their passwords with their friends or partners and while they may not intentionally want to harm you, they may accidentally share it with others. 2. Never leave your webcam on.  There are so many apps that have the capability to switch on your webcam, allowing just about anyone to record your movements without your knowl...

With everyone being on multiple social media networks these days, privacy is a very rare thing. Because of this, social media networks are an easy way for scammers and bots to potentially pose a threat to users! However, there are certain actions that YOU are doing that can make things so much worse! To keep yourself safe and secure, use your common sense and always be sure to never, ever post these 4 things on your Facebook network or any other social media account.  - Home address or work address This should be an obvious one, but “Checking in” or adding your location to an image or post can also give away where you are. So, be careful when you’re adding geotags on your  Instagram  posts, because some creep might be trying to find out where you live or work. - Certain photos of children You should always be extra, extra careful when it comes to posting photos of children on social media. Always steer clear of uploading compromising images, like ...

Twitter is one of the original giants among social media networks and because it is so handy and easy to use it is a great way to communicate with your friends or associates. While Twitter is a great social media network, it is also a way for scammers and bots to potentially pose a threat to users, including teens and young kids. When it comes to staying safe on Twitter, parents need to make sure their children are as safe as possible. Read all about how to spot a Twitter scam here! 1. Always be smart with your passwords – Your password should always be at least 12 characters with a mix of letters, numbers and special characters.   It is also important not to use the same password for all your accounts. 2. Configure privacy settings – Everything you post on Twitter will pop up when it is searched for, so it is best to enable “Protect My Tweets” so your posts stay invisible to search queries. 3. Never share personal info – There are many people lurking on...

Social media has made it possible for people to interact with each other from all over the world – everyone knows what everyone else is doing, where they’re going on vacation, when they got married, etc. However, social media networks have also made it possible for more users to become victims of scams. Over the last few years, social media scams have basically quadrupled with fake accounts popping up everywhere. Don’t become the next victim of a scam – here’s how to spot, prevent and deal with social media scams: - There is an ad or poster offering an amazing deal or job that sounds too good to be true. - A job, prize or loan application asks you to pay upfront beforehand. - A popular company uses a Yahoo or Gmail email account to contact you. - You are urged to act immediately! - They ask you to share your private information. - You get a friend request from a “friend” but they ask you random questions or for money. How to prevent social media scams fro...

Facebook is an awesome way to stay in touch with your friends and family members, however, you need to remember to always be careful about the private information your reveal because it might end up in the wrong hands! These days a range of financial scams can be used to try and steal your money, one of them is cybercriminals making fake Facebook profiles and sending friend requests in order to gain your personal information. This is why it is vital to be careful when you are using Facebook as well as any other social media network. Here are 5 important Facebook security tips: 1. Always verify all Facebook contacts. Make sure that you are actually talking to the person you think you’re talking to and not a criminal trying to gain your personal information or money. 2. Protect your financial information. Never tell anyone about your private banking details such as your bank account details, credit card numbers and passwords or any other financial data on Face...

You may not be someone who takes risks. You may be someone who follows all the rules, you pay your bills on time, you always wear your seatbelt and you even put on sunblock when it’s a cloudy day. But do you follow all the rules when you’re online? Are you exposing yourself and your money to the dangers that lurk on the internet? Here are 10 silly things that you might be doing that put you at risk! 1. You just assume that online banking websites are safe. Cybercriminals will go where your money goes, so going to a fake banking site and not noticing before you put in your private login details and password can easily lead to cyber theft. 2. You’re doing your online shopping in shady places. You see a great deal online, but you need to be cautious before you visit just any online shop and click “Add to Cart.” Always enter the URL directly and make sure the site is reliable and well-known. 3. You use the same password for everything. If you’re not taking the time...