Networking is incredibly beneficial not only for businesses, but for people who want to keep in touch with friends or family. However, in a time where it is easy to send personal material online, network security is necessary to keep your information private.

Networking – particularly social networking – is becoming hugely popular. Sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, DropShots, etc. make long distance relationships easier to maintain, and friends can update each other by posting messages and photos. Essentially, these sites were created for two simple reasons – to keep in touch with friends/loved ones and to gain new friends. There are, however, various reasons to take extra care when joining such networking sites. For example, there are people who may access personal photos/videos posted in networking sites for self pleasure, or use the sites to deceit people for monetary gains.

On the contrary, it is good to note that there are some sites that take security measures to minimize, if not eliminate, such unrespectable acts. Some photo sharing sites have restricted access and only let their users identify people who may view their pictures.

Here are some tips to avoid being a victim:

1. Be Skeptical – social networking is intended for sharing of interests and establishing network of friends. However, always bare in mind these new “friends” are virtual and faceless, and you can’t completely trust that they are who they say they are.
2. Be Diligent – keep an eye on your profile and be diligent about the people who want to connect with you.
3. Report Suspicious Behavior – if something is suspicious, report it immediately. There is nothing wrong with being cautious.
4. Communicate – children should be properly guided especially when using the internet. Parents must educate them on possible threats to help keep them safe.
5. Monitor – for peace of mind, install monitoring software to keep an eye on the online behavior all users. Use network security features to block malware and threats that are not commonly known and to avoid intruders hoping to meddle in your private information.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 am and is filed under General, Hosting Services, Internet T1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.