Internet safety

Before you tweet, email or post, consider these safety tips:

Do you know who your friends are? How many people have you “friended” that you know in real life or see in a regular basis? If you are connected to strangers or casual acquaintances on social media, remember that before sharing personal information.
Don’t list your home address, telephone numbers or other details that could compromise your identity or safety.
Be careful when sharing plans on social media. If you are going on vacation, don’t give potential burglars advance notice that you will be out of town. Checking in to a location with foursquare or other location-based services could make you a target.
Ignore email, text or pop-up messages that ask for sensitive information, just like you would ignore unsolicited mail or phone calls with offers that seem too good to be true or request personal information.
Don’t use obvious passwords like your birthdates, Social Security number, phone number or mother’s maiden name. Try not to use the same password for every account and change them regularly.
Don’t let texting or tweeting make you vulnerable to theft or an accident. Pay attention to your surroundings, especially when using public transportation or in a crowded area.
Technology is always changing and hackers will keep up. The security of these tools is not perfect. Protect yourself by being smart about the content you share.
What you put online should be considered public and permanent. Don’t post information you don’t want family members, your boss, the police or prosecutors seeing. You would be surprised at how savvy cops, and parents, can be.

Prevent phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are emails that look like they are from legitimate organizations but are actually fraudulent attempts to gather identity, financial, or other personal information about their targets.

Quick tips to prevent your account from being compromised:

Do not open emails from someone you don’t know.
Don’t click on links or open attachments unless you trust the sender.
Never give anyone your password.
Poor grammar and spelling are indicators of phishing attempts.