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...

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...

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...

Twitter is a social media network that is a great way to stay in touch with what is happening in the world. You can take a look into celebrity lives, connect with your local business and communicate with friends. However, not everyone that uses Twitter is there to use it in a positive way, many users are on Twitter to try and scam you. So how can you spot a Twitter scam? At the moment Twitter scams seem to be targeting the financial world because almost all users like to stay involved with their bank online. For the common user, these scams can be quite hard to spot. So firstly, a Twitter user may need help logging onto their account or they simply have a general question. A scammer will join in the legitimate conversation and steer it towards them. How do they do this so easily? The answer is that they use a fake profile they have created. These fake profiles can easily trick users because they are so hard to spot! Spend a few minutes studying the profil...

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...