Social Media Safety – Facebook

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, but keep yourself secure…

-- 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 know

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. Another danger you could face includes stalkers!

-- Change who can see your personal information

Have you listed your address and phone number on Facebook? It may seem handy to do so, but you don’t want everyone seeing this information. For maximum privacy, make sure to set these to be “me only” or choose who gets to see what.

-- NEVER overshare

The best way to be safe? Have some common sense! Be sure that what you’re posting online will not compromise your safety. Did you know that a deleted photo will remain on the Facebook servers for months after it is gone? It is harder to retract information, so simply do not share it in the first place!

It’s better to be safe than sorry, so go ahead and use these safety tips!

Need help with your social media security? Contact The Computer Guyz on 087 001 0511/2 or email copy@tcgcape.co.za