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 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 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 our Digital Forensics department on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

Use Facebook more safely with these 5 Security Tips

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 Facebook.

3. Be suspicious of strangers. Never add or accept any friend requests from people that you do not know.

4. Keep your password a secret. Always take extra care about the password you choose as it is one of the most vital parts of your Facebook security.

- Use a complicated password that is at least 12 characters and consists of upper and lower case letters, a number and special symbol.
- Remember to change your password on a regular basis.
- Never use the same passwords for all your accounts.

5. Secure all your devices. Make sure to install anti-malware software on your computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet – whatever devices you use – to ensure that everything is protected from viruses as well as any other threats.

Need assistance with your Facebook security? Have you been the victim on Facebook? Please contact our OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) Division on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za | www.osint.co.za

Why does Social Media Intelligence matter?

Do you know what social media intelligence is? Well to put it simply, it is the collection, curation and overall analysis of data found online in order to provide a look into the actions and habits of a certain individual or group.

In a time where most of the people in the world are on social media networks, social media intelligence can be used to learn a lot by just studying what they do online.

Here are some interesting social media facts and stats:

 - The top eight social media networks are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube.

- Did you know that more than half of the public use social media at least once a day?

- YouTube is the most popular social media sharing website.

- Facebook is the most popular social media sharing website – used by almost 70% of adults!

- Social media use is higher for those who are younger – almost 90% of users are 18-29 years old.

So why does social media intelligence and evidence found on social media matter?

Every single day a huge amount of information and data is created on social media networks, and social media intelligence is there to study and understand the behaviour of those who are online.

Social media intelligence is a way for professional digital forensics experts to gather, interpret and understand data that is found online, this is especially important in social media investigations.

It is important to note that social media evidence can be deleted, changed and locked down by certain privacy settings. That is why it takes a professional to preserve the online evidence so it is admissible in an official court of law.

For more information about social media intelligence as well as open source intelligence and more in the digital forensics world, please visit www.osint.co.za | www.tcgforensics.co.za or contact the TCG Digital Forensics Division on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za | contact@osint.co.za