Computer Security

[DAG]

Just a warning to be extra careful with security if considering going on websites like Facebook.

No matter what security protection you have installed, clicking on the wrong thing in Facebook for instance can bypass all the security in the world and reveal all your personal details.

In any case security has become such an issue that it is as well to read about it on this website:

www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_safe_are_facebook_applications.php

Also be especially alert at all times as you can so easily fall into a trap like this one:



Looks authentic, an Adobe Reader update, you could click on that in a weak moment and boom!!!!!!!!!!!

[tamarine]

Thank you for this useful info Dag. I am on facebook but now decided to scrap it. I do know the vultures are waiting in the wings to hack into vulnerable victims.

[linda]

thanks dag, i have adobe something came up the other day but it wasnt that it was an update but will be watching out for that, im on facebook mind im hardly on it and just have people i know, i did get a friendship request from a nigerian guy and i passed him and ignored his request.

[linda]

thought i best warn everyone, kandy my friend on gc was going to bulk upload her pics on photobucket yesterday and that adobe agreement came up on her pc she refused it, just aswell she did as her hubby said they would of had something nasty come up on their pcs.

[kedigato]

I have sent the link to Figmentfan. I know that she is on Facebook and she still can't get on ME due to computer problems.

[nazimundo]

Thanks for the warning Dag, Ann is on Facebook but keeps minimal info there, so far we have had no problems.

It's not only on sites like Facebook that you can have problems, I watched a program on the tv the other night about people in the Indian call centres selling other peoples private information.

Hackers are clever people and can break into almost any site, a few years ago someone that Johnnie knew was a hacker and when one of the banks anounced that they now had a system that could not broken into, he contacted them to say that there were problems with the system and he was able to break into it, they said they didn't believe him so he showed them where the problems were and helped them fix them.

No matter how secure you think you are there are people out there able breach your security, all we can do be careful and alert.

Alfie

[DAG]

Thanks all for the input on this, yes I dare say that Twitter and and a few others are just as vulnerable and we have now got to be so careful 100 per cent of the time while on the Internet.

This kind of crime seems to have gone up a notch in recent times and calls for greater security, I recently had my bank card cloned and my card has never been out of my site, so buying things off the Internet and phoning a shopping order seems to be the biggest risk as none of it uses your chip and pin security!

The banks are now up to their neck in fraud claims and you get referred to a call centre....it just gets worse!

[nazimundo]

Sorry to hear about you having your card cloned Dag, while we did the courier work one of our jobs was to deliver replacement cards for a couple of the banks.
I remember one young lass who had been on a day trip to Edinburgh and had used a cash machine to get some money out of her account, within 4 hours there had been two further withdrawals from her account both in ROME.
I remember a few years ago the same sort of thing happened in Rothbury, a small town near here. Someone had attached a small camera to the cash machine and they sat in a car nearby with a laptop with which they got both the card number and the peoples pin number, then cloned the cards and withdrew cash from peoples accounts.

Alfie

[linda]

ive just watched a programme tonight about this 25 year old girl had sulfuric acid thrown in her face what a mess and she was blinded in one eye she met her attacker on facebook and also a 17 year old girl met a guy on facebook and they met up and he murdered her, she lived in county durham , so i guess theres a lot of strange people on that facebook.

[DAG]

To be fair, it is not just Facebook, there are so many dangers on the Internet in general, and the bigger the site the more they attract the nasties!

[DAG]

Just received a check list of do's and dont's for entering passwords and came across a new one that is interesting if you are worried about security, especially if you have bank account details on your computer:

Try copying and pasting at least some of the characters in your password that way keyloggers won’t be able to track your keystrokes.


Check list

Do:
•Mix letters, numbers and symbols, and use case sensitivity (upper and lower case letters)
•The longer the better. Use passwords that are longer than 6 characters.
•Change your passwords at least every 60 days, cycling the numeric values up or down makes the new password easy to remember.
•Try copying and pasting at least some of the characters in your password that way keyloggers won’t be able to track your keystrokes.

Don't:
•Don’t use words or phrases or numbers that have personal significance. It is very easy for someone to guess or identify your personal details like date of birth.
•Avoid writing your password down, use a reputable password manager to manage all your passwords.
•Don’t use the same password for several logins, especially if they involve sensitive financial or other personal information.
•Don’t tell anybody your password.
•When registering on websites that ask for your email address, never use the same password as your email account.

[victoria]

Hello Admin

Not sure where to post this but I have logged in immediately although I had problems around noon-ish.

[DAG]

Hi Victoria, many of Proboards forums have been down today including Mother Earth so everyone has been affected in some way. They report that most forums are back to normal now and this one seems OK so far.

If anyone has any problems from now on, please let me know as Proboards want the feedback, thank you!