Facebook: The Fear of Being Hacked and Attacked

                      Today I will be taking the time to talk to you about Facebook hacks and viruses, the reasons these are not just annoying but very dangerous, and how to personally stay diligent to avoid them. This article I hope will be most helpful and provide you valuable insight on keeping your personal information and friends safe! Spread the word! First off, hacks and viruses have become so common in the internet world that they are no longer looked at as "threats" by the general public and are seen as mere annoyances. This is a false thought; hacks and viruses are created for the sole purpose of getting yours, your friends, and your family's personal information. Have you ever been the victim of a hack or virus? How long did it take for you to take that computer to a specialist? Before you took it to a specialist how many times did you check your email, Facebook, or bank account? Although not all hacks and viruses can see the info you use directly, how do you know which ones can? So why would you take the risk? Why do they want my personal information? In the real world, people use scams for the sole purpose of getting money. This is the same concept in the world of internet. The difference is that the internet provides a lot more tactics to get that information as well as a lot more ways to use it. With the dawn of the internet came a whole new world that was exciting to everyone, when in reality it can be the single most frightening part of our everyday lives! Why? To take it back to a Facebook level, if I randomly add you as a friend and you have no idea who I am, you still accept me as a friend because everyone's friendly in social networking. At this point all I have to do is take your name and your birthday should you have it on your Facebook account, or even more helpful, your list of relatives. I can find all of your addresses you have ever had, and from here I can take all this information and use it to get your background report and social security number. Now that I have this info, my possibilities are endless. I can now pretend to be you and start working on getting credit cards and what not in your name. To make matters worse, most people use the same email and password for everything they do, and if you show me this personal email on your Facebook profile I am then one quick program away from accessing everything you everything you have like credit cards and bank accounts. Oh, and I can do all this in less than an hour's time!If this is what the average Joe can do then imagine what the experts are capable of! Although Facebook is a big, notable company it is still a young pup in the internet world. It has only been with use since 2004. This makes Facebook a huge target for online hacking and viruses. Don't miss understand me, Facebook itself is very secure and a force to be reckoned with. The action happens on a personal profile level on a day to day basis from friends to friends, and a lot of time happens without you ever realizing it happened. Social networking sites such as Facebook are big targets due to the amount of information within profiles and the simple fact that it is supposed to be a trusted network of friends. We mindlessly click on anything given to us by a trusted friend or relative, so if they can take that account it can spider web into a gold mine. What can I do to protect myself? Just as the darker side of the internet has options, so do we! There are many ways to help avoid these hacks and viruses. First off, when it comes to Facebook or any social networks, keep in mind your antivirus has no way of protecting your account, it can only protect your computer and is never 100% effective! Protecting yourself on the internet is just that: "protecting yourself". Take caution when adding new friends, take pride enough in your personal information not to put it all out there, and only put what you feel is necessary or important. Emails and passwords are another huge way to protect you. The key here is to use as many difference passwords as possible and try not to use the same one twice. This can limit the hack or virus' access to just that one item instead of a mess your personal accounts. It is also a very good idea to keep sites that have very sensitive information such as bank accounts and credit card sites under a separate email only used for those items, but remember to keep the passwords different. The reason behind having multiple email accounts is based on the fact that if your single email account is taken then the individual who has that account can have all your passwords send to that account for reset. For security reasons, in today's world you can never have enough email accounts. This method is very helpful, but it cannot stop the problem on its own. In order to help yourself prevent hacks and viruses, you must be very cautious about what you click on or look at on your Facebook account and on the internet in general. What do I look for and how do I know not to click on it? When these hack or virus attacks happen on Facebook, they usually affect a lot of people and travel from friend to friend by users clicking links. One of the big tell-tale signs of Facebook messages, wall links, or news links that may contain a hack or virus is that although there are many different versions and always new ones, each one will use the same message or post to attract you. This means that if you see a bunch of your friends post or email the same exact message that this is more than likely a hack or virus, and you will contract it should you click the link. The creator of the hack or virus wants you to see these as a popular chain letter, video, or link. Your options with these situations are to: 1. Not click on the link 2. Report the link 3. Message your friend or relative back and ask if they intended to send this message. In most cases accounts that get hacked or viruses still leave the original user control over the account and they go on using Facebook as if nothing happened, so it is fairly safe to ask before you click. What if I have been hacked or have a Facebook virus and how do I know? First off, if you know your account was compromised, quickly change your password to your email address followed by changing the password to your Facebook account. It is best done in this order to prevent immediate reccurrences. The best way to tell if this has happened to you is to regularly check your Facebook email and profile for any emails or posts that you did not make yourself. If you see any of these then please change your email password immediately followed by your Facebook password. There is no sure-fire way to stop these attacks; there are only ways to be diligent in protecting yourself. Remember to use caution with your personal information, be careful of who you add as a friend, and watch out for suspicious behavior. Keep in mind that if you have any doubt you should ask the sender to make sure it really is the person you trust and that they intended to send it.