10 Things Should Not Share on Social Networks

10: Personal Conversations
On Facebook, users can send personal messages or post notes, images or videos to another user’s wall. The wall is there for all to see, while messages are between the sender and the receiver, just like an e-mail. Personal and private matters should never be shared on your wall. You wouldn’t go around with a bullhorn announcing a private issue to the world, and the same thing goes on the Internet. This falls under the nebulous world of social networking etiquette. There is no official handbook for this sort of thing, but use your best judgment. If it’s not something you’d feel comfortable sharing in person with extended family, acquaintances, work colleagues or strangers, then you shouldn’t share it on your Facebook wall.

9: Social Plans
Sharing your social plans for everybody to see isn’t a good idea. Unless you’re planning a big party and inviting all the users you’re connected to, it will only make your other friends feel left out. There are also some security issues at stake here. Imagine a scenario where a jealous ex-boyfriend knows that you’re meeting a new date out that night. What’s to keep the ex from showing up and causing a scene or even potentially getting upset or violent? Nothing, that’s what. If you’re planning a party or an outing with a group of friends, send a personal “e-vite” for their eyes only and nobody is the wiser. If you’re trying to cast a wide net by throwing out an idea for a social outing, just remember that anyone who has access to your profile sees it.

8: Linking Sites
With 51 percent of social network users taking advantage of more than one site, there’s bound to be some crossover from one to the other, especially if you have the sites linked. You may post something you find innocuous on Facebook, but then it’s linked to your LinkedIn work profile and you’ve put your job at risk. If you link your various profiles together, be aware that what you post in one world is available to the others. In 2009, a case of an employee caught lying on Facebook hit the news. The employee asked off for a weekend shift because he was ill and then posted pictures on his Facebook profile of himself at a party that same weekend. The news got back to his employer easily enough and he was fired. So if you choose to link your profiles, it’s no longer a “personal life” and “work life” scenario.

7: Company Information
You may be dying to tell the world about your new work promotion, but if it’s news that could be advantageous to one of your company’s competitors, then it’s not something you should share. News of a planned expansion or a big project role and anything else about your workplace should be kept private. Sophos, a security software company, found that 63 percent of companies were afraid of what their employees were choosing to share on social networking sites
If you want to message it out, be selective and send private e-mails. Many companies are so serious about not being included in social networking sites that they forbid employees from using sites like Facebook at work. Some IT departments even filter the URLs and block access to these sites altogether so employees aren’t tempted to log on.

6: Photos of Your Kids
Social networking sites are a common place for people to share pictures of their families, but if you’re one of the 40 percent of users who don’t restrict access to your profile, then those pictures are there for everyone to see. It’s a sad fact, but there are a lot of predators who use the Internet to stalk their prey. If you post pictures of your family and couple that with information like, “my husband is out of town this weekend” or “little Johnny is old enough to stay at home by himself now,” then your children’s safety could be at risk. Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them until it does, so safety first is a good default mode when using social networking sites. Just like with other private matters, send family photos only to a select group of trusted friends and colleagues who you know won’t share them.

5: Your Address and Phone Number
File this one under security risk. If you share your address and phone number on a social networking site, you open yourself up to threats of identity theft and other personal dangers like burglaries. If you post that you’re going on vacation and you have your address posted, then everyone knows you have an empty house. Identity thieves could pay a visit to your mailbox and open up a credit card in your name. Burglars could rid your home of anything of value. Even just posting your phone number gives people with Internet savvy easy access to your address. Reverse lookup services can supply anyone with your home address if you can provide the phone number.

4: Personal Finance Information
You would think that nobody would share things like where they do their banking or what their stock portfolio looks like, but it happens. Especially with all the headlines of banks going bankrupt and stock prices plummeting during the 2008/2009 recession, it’s easy for an innocent Facebook comment to reveal too much about your personal finances. Consider this scenario: You’re posting to a long thread on a friend’s wall about the bank crisis. You say something along the lines of, “We don’t need to worry because we bank with a teacher’s credit union,” or even, “We put all our money into blue chip stocks and plan to ride it out.” Again, if you’re one the 40 percent who allow open access to your profile, then suddenly identity thieves know where you bank and where you have the bulk of your investments. It’s easy to forget that what may seem like a harmless comment on a Facebook wall could reveal a great deal about your personal finances. It’s best to avoid that kind of talk altogether.

3: Your Password
This one really seems like a no-brainer, but if it didn’t happen, then Facebook probably wouldn’t feel the need to list it in the No. 1 slot on its list of things you shouldn’t share. Even sharing the password with a friend so he or she can log on and check something for you can be a risk. This is especially true with couples who feel like there’s enough trust to share these kinds of things. Here’s another scenario for you: You give your boyfriend your Facebook password because he wants to help you upload some vacation photos. A couple of months later, the relationship sours, he turns into a not-so-nice guy and then there’s a person out there who doesn’t like you and has your login information. Time to cancel your account and get a new one. If you’d have kept that information private to begin with, you could simply move on with your life. Now you have a compromised profile, and if you link to other sites or profiles, all that information is at risk as well. Keep your password to yourself, no matter what, and you never have to worry about it.

2: Password Hints
Most Web sites that contain secure personal information require a password also have at least one password hint in case you forget. It typically goes like this: You sign up for something like online banking and you get a login and password and then choose a security question for when you forget your password. What’s the name of your first pet? What’s your mother’s maiden name? What was your high school mascot? What’s the name of the first street you lived on? Including any of these details on a Facebook wall or status update may not seem like a big deal, but it could provide an identity thief with the last piece of the puzzle needed to hack into your bank account. Think before you post anything that could compromise this information.

1: Anything You Don’t Want Shared
You can select all the privacy settings you want on social networking sites, but the fact is, if you post it, it has the potential to be seen by someone you don’t want seeing it. You know all those fun Facebook applications, quizzes and polls you can’t help but fill out? A study performed by the University of Virginia found that of the top 150 applications on Facebook, 90 percent were given access to information they didn’t need in order for the app to function. So when you sign up to find out what sitcom star you most identify with, the makers of that poll now have access to your personal information. It’s anybody’s guess where it goes from there. Social networking is all about sharing, so something you think is in confidence can easily be shared and then shared again, and before you know it, someone you don’t even know has access to something private. “When in doubt, leave it out” is a good motto to follow. And always remember that anything you share has the potential to be leake.

Top 10 Ways of Spread Virus in Computer

Most people these days understand what a virus is and how harmful it can be, but they are still somewhat unsure how computer viruses spread. The truth is that there are dozens of different ways in which a virus can spread from computer to computer, but let’s take a look at the most frequent ways in which people run into viruses, spyware and Trojans on the Internet.

1. Email attachments: Golden rule is that if you don’t know what an attachment is, don’t open it. You don’t have to take such drastic steps to protect yourself, however; simply use common sense when opening attachments in your email.

2. Rogue Websites:It is depressing to know that you may become infected with spyware or a virus by doing nothing more than simply visiting a website, but it is true. Many adult websites, gambling websites and other less than trustworthy websites will attempt to automatically access your computer when you visit them. They often install adware bugs that will cause a flurry of pop ups to appear on your screen.To stop these rogue websites, adjust the settings on your antivirus software and firewall so that no outside connections can be made and no programs can be installed without your express permission.

3. Networks: If your work computer is part of a larger network, you may find yourself with an infection through no fault of your own. Someone else on the network downloaded a bug by accident, and within minutes, the entire network could be infected. There isn’t much you can do to stop these kinds of infections, short of having your network administrator ensure that everyone’s antivirus software is up to date so that the invading bug can be removed as quickly as possible.

4. Phishing Schemes: Learning how computer viruses spread is important to keep yourself, and your personal information, safe online. Phishing schemes are one of the chief ways in which people end up with their identity stolen and a computer fill of viruses. A phishing scheme starts when you receive an email from a website claiming to be your bank or credit card company. You are asked to click a link and log in, but the truth is that you’ve just given away all of your personal information. Often times, when you visit these sites, spyware, adware and viruses are automatically installed on your computer. smartest thing you can do is to simply call your bank or credit card company if you receive an email saying there is a problem with your account instead of blindly following links in your email.

5. Infected Software: One of the great things about the Internet is how many free games and programs there are out there, but these free programs often come at a price. Too many rogue websites intentionally infect their freeware (like Kazaa) with trojan viruses so that you unknowingly infect your computer every time you download a free game or piece of software. The key here is to only download freeware or shareware from a trusted source like CNet that always ensures your safety.

6. Hackers: The Internet today is a much more law abiding place than it was ten years ago. Not only did most people not have antivirus protection and firewalls that could stop incoming attacks, most people didn’t even know what they were. Today, people understand the value of good online protection, but hackers can still pose a problem if you allow your protection software to lapse. The best way to beat hackers is to ensure that you have a firewall and up to date antivirus software.

7. Instant Messaging: It is difficult to find a computer in this day and age that doesn’t have at least one instant messaging service installed on it. Unfortunately, these programs are often targets of hackers who see an easy way to trick people into clicking links that lead them to rogue websites. Common sense can keep you out of trouble, however. Only chat with people you know and never follow links to sites that you don’t recognize. You should easily be able to keep Internet worms, viruses and other bugs at bay.

8. Fake Anti Virus Software:  This is one of the most frustrating ways to become infected with a virus or worm. There are dozens of anti virus and anti spyware programs you can download for free on the Internet and a surprising number of them actually do exactly the opposite of what they claim. The product websites make outrageous claims that their product can protect you from a whole range of threats, when, in reality, their product will only make things a thousand times worse. Only download antivirus programs from trusted sites or from websites that you know are completely legit.

9. From Mobile Devices & External USB Devices : Mobile phones get infected by bluetooth transfer,etc.. when u connect the mobile to computer you can be affected by those virus even if you connect Infected external USB flash desk or hard desk. keep one anti virus software for mobile. Keep your anti virus software up to date at all times and you should be able to wrestle control back from any Internet bug.

10. Friends and Relatives: The social networking site Facebook has had to battle this very problem when their serves get a bug and automatically send out emails to everyone on the system that are infected. Often times, these emails are extremely generic sounding and come with suspicious attachments, but people often open them anyway since they have come from a friend or from a site they trust, like Facebook. Remember, if you get an attachment with an .exe extension or a .dll, don’t ever open it.

Learning how computer viruses spread is the best way we can put an end to their reign of terror online. It is only with the right knowledge and the best antivirus software that Internet users everywhere can beat online bugs for good.

Remove Total Security 2009 virus / adware (Manual)

Total Security or TotalSecurity or Total Security 2009 is a fake anti-spyware program. Which when installed on your PC shows some fake virus scan reports saying you have 25-30 trojans and you will have to download some stupid antivirus to remove them. It also blocks all websites on your computer. Your PC will slow down and will hang often. Some known symptoms of this virus are as below.

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File Shredder: nice tool for permanent Erase

remove files from your hard drive without fear they could be recovered. There are quite a few software tools today for retrieval of deleted files under Windows OS. Those tools, often referred to as “file recovery” software, are taking advantage of shortcoming of WIndows “delete” command that we all use regularly to delete files. Actually, the “delete” operation in Windows only removes bits of information from files so they appear deleted in OS. It is easy to retrieve those files using aforementioned specialized file recovery software.

In order to remove, or shred files permanently from your system you have to use a program that is capable of rewriting the files with random series of binary data multiple times. This process is often called shredding. That way, the actual content of the file has been overwritten and the possibilities to recover such a shredded file are mostly theoretical.

File Shredder has been developed as fast, safe and reliable tool to shred company files. The author of this program released it free under GNU licence and you are welcome to download File Shredder and use it without any restrictions. File Shredder is simple but powerful program that surpasses manu commercial file shredders out there. The Author believes that such a utility should be available to anyone for free and that permanent and safe removal of confidential documents is a matter of basic right to privacy.

Download File Shredder from Here

Take Easy Backup Your Facebook, Twitter & Gmail

Take Easy Backup Your Facebook, Twitter and Gmail Info 

Today millions of people are enjoying the connections made through social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. However, as these once strictly for fun networks evolved into serious communication tools, the value of the information stored on these sites has increased exponentially. Unfortunately, these sites offer little in the way of backing up the information that is contained in their user accounts. This is where social media backup services come into play.

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New IE bug is Conficker 2

The latest bug in Internet Explorer could create a security issue on the same scale as Conficker, says a research at AVG.

“It’s better than [the vulnerability used by] Conficker,” Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG, said.

“It exposes the whole world, and can be exploited through the firewall. That’s better than Conficker, which mostly did its damage once it got inside a network.”

Conficker, the worm that exploded into prominence in January when it infected millions of machines, exploiting an already-patched bug in Windows that Microsoft had thought dire enough to fix outside its usual update schedule.

The worm hijacked a large number of PCs – estimates ranged as high as 12 million at one point – and then assembled them into a massive botnet able to spread malware, plant fake antivirus software or distribute huge amounts of spam.

“I have no doubt that the really bad guys are bustling to get this [new vulnerability] into their exploit toolkits,” said Thompson.

“For the Conficker people, this could be the next thing. They waited until they had a really good exploit, then combined that with some smart strategies. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they picked up on this.”

The vulnerability Thompson’s worried about is in the Microsoft Video Controller ActiveX Library, or the ‘msvidctl.dll’ file, an ActiveX control that can be accessed using Internet Explorer (IE).

Although the bug has been used by hackers since at least June 9, it only made it into the public eye this week, when several security companies, including firms in both China and Denmark, reported that thousands of compromised sites were serving up exploits.

Microsoft acknowledged the vulnerability in a security advisory this week and said it would produce a patch and provided an automated tool to disable the ActiveX control by setting nearly three-dozen “kill bits” in the Windows registry.

“This is a good exploit with a big lump of infectable people,” said Thompson.

One reason why the bug is an excellent choice for hackers is that it hasn’t been patched. When Conficker first appeared, the flaw it exploited had already been patched by Microsoft. It turned out, however, that there were plenty of PCs that had not been updated with the fix.

Thompson wouldn’t hazard a guess as to whether Microsoft would be able to craft a fix in time to add it to the patches slated for delivery next Tuesday, July’s regularly-scheduled update day. “But I’m fairly confident that they’re trying very hard,” he said.

Attack code is readily available, Thompson said, meaning that attackers not yet abusing the bug don’t have to figure out an exploit of their own. “If the people who infect banner ads use this before there’s a patch, then watch out,” he warned.

Today, Microsoft admitted that researchers at IBM’s ISS X-Force had reported the vulnerability in 2008, but did not name the date.

“It’s not the end of the world or anything,” said Thompson. “But I won’t be surprised to see Version 2.0 of Conficker with this. It seems custom-made for them.”

Systems running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable to current attacks through IE6 and IE7. Windows Vista and Windows 7 are not at risk; nor are users running IE8 or other browsers, such as Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s Chrome.

SOURCE:  pcadvisor