Sentana.Net – Journal

Facebook Top Ten Tips + 1 March 30, 2009

There’s one thing I can say about the people in Indonesia, is that they are rather late in adopting the latest craze in technology. For example, Blackberry has become the latest craze a few months ago, although the technology has been around for a while. But now that iPhone 3G has just become widely available, I would say it will be a close battle between the two hottest handset manufacturers in the world (I feel sorry for Nokia, but I believe they will come back strong with a new product soon).

Now why Blackberry has just become a boon here in Indonesia? No, it’s not because the young executives or the corporate users are beginning to see the benefits of having push email services. And no, it’s not because there are now more operators having Blackberry offerings, though it helps widens the access for people to get the device. Rather, they become crackberries because they want to access Facebook from their mobile phone.

Please, don’t get me wrong. Most handphones nowadays can also updates their Facebook using their mobile website, but it really helps Blackberry & iPhone sales here due to the fact that those handphones have native Facebook application. Rather than logging in everytime using mobile browser, Blackberry and iPhone users can get their Facebook notifications right away via e-mail push capability. And it can’t come at a better timing than now, since Facebook has been steadily increasing its presense in the country. Ask around, and people will tell you that they are now switching to Facebook more than they use Friendster & Multiply or any other social networking sites. I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook will take over Friendster as the de-facto social network for Indonesians within the next few months.

I have to admit. Facebook is indeed very amusing & addictive. Yet, if we are being ignorant to the lurking danger behind the fun of Facebook, we will open ourselves to many invasion to our own privacy.

In this article, I just want to share the top ten tips that I have gathered from the internet with regards to the security when “Facebook”-ing. Regardless whether you are using Windows, Linux, Blackberry or iPhone, keep these security tips in your mind. Think of it as if your life depends on it (and in all likelihood, it does):

1. Do not login from http://www.facebook.com. The link is not using SSL or any security encryption whatsoever. If you login from there, your username and password will be typed in the open, and people with good sniffer software can grab your Facebook username and password, and able to hack into your account. The safest way to login is via this link: https://login.facebook.com/login.php?login_attempt=1 which is SSL protected. Of course, it is not fire proof as well, but much better than having no SSL at all. Having said this, it is recommended for you to have a strong password. Here’s some tip on how to create a strong password: http://lifehacker.com/5180925/password-lessons-and-tips-from-our-readers.
2. Set your Privacy Profile Settings: One suggestion is to set the Profile Privacy > Basic to “only me” for items: Education Info, Work Info and Profile Privacy > Contact Information to “no one” for items: Mobile Phone, Land Phone, Current Address, Email. You may want to display your website address for advertising, or leave it blank.
3. Think carefully about who you allow to become your friend. This is because by default, your profiles will be viewable by your friends and therefore, it is better to ignore the invite if you don’t know the person who added you as their friend. Surely you can remove friends at any time should you change your mind about someone, but the damage is already done by then. One way to limit this is by only allowing Friends of Friends to be able to search and add you as their friends. But of course, that depends on how good your friends are handling their friends’ invites as well.
4. While we are still in the searching functionality, you may limit what kind of data that the person who searched you be able to see. By default, they can see your friends’ list, and that’ is not considered as good security to allow complete strangers to browse who your friends are. Though such information can be used for good (such as confirming that the person is actually the person you are looking for), it can also be used for malicious things like blackmailing.
5. If you know a lot of friends (like in hundreds or thousands), then it is a good exercise to group your friends based on your level of trust. I put my immediate family circle in one list, then my cousins, aunts, in-laws etc in another list. I also group my school friends in one list, and my co-workers in another. The way you group it makes it easier for you to send messages to a group that you intend to send to.
6. Don’t post on walls, unless you want everyone to see it. If it is only intended for the person that owns the wall, then better send a message instead of posting in a wall.
7. Don’t share your profile data to all your friends. Birthday may be ok, but I only limit the sharing to my circle of trust (mostly my own family). Opening your profile data is like an open-door to know the answers to some of the general questions that your credit card issuers are asking to confirm your identity.
8. Don’t add too many applications. I only have around 10 applications at the maximum, and that includes the essentials such as photos, links, etc. When installing an application, you are usually aksed to allow some rights to the applications to access your data. As simple as you click Allow, the applications can then access your profile data for their own benefits. Therefore, please be aware of those Quizzes or Sending Gift apps that you don’t actually need and toss them in the trash bin. (BTW, I figure that sending gifts via Facebook is actually doesn’t mean anything).
9. Customize who can see your photos. This makes use of the group list that you created in point 2, so if you have a family photo that is only intended for your family, then it’s better to limit the view to only your family. If you don’t want your names to be included in a picture, you can always remove your own name from being tagged.
10. Be cautious when joining groups. All users of a group will be permitted to see your profile data. Alternatively, there is a setting that restricts this in your privacy settings. Nevertheless, if you don’t think joining the group is worth while, then better stay away from joining the group.

That pretty much cover the basic security on how to use Facebook safely. However, I think there’s one crucial tip that you must adhere to regardless of you using Facebook or Twitter, or any other social networking site. If you want to do something about security, you can always start here: Control what stories or updates about you that will get published to your profile and to your friends’ News Feeds. People will be able to know what type of person are you if you updates often in Facebook, making you an open book. Remember, not everyone needs to know that you are buying pizza for dinner or whether you are having diarrhea. There are some things better left unsaid.

In essence, having fun doesn’t mean you have to jeopardize your security, so be vigilant and keep security as main priority.

Happy Facebook-ing…