TRENDS: Stay safe with different and secure passwords

2009/08/28

CHANDRA DEVI RENGANAYAR

LIKE bees to honey, millions are attracted to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Today, Facebook, for instance, has more than 250 million active users and over 120 million users log on to this site at least once each day. There are more than 30 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. As for Twitter, it has about 44.5 million followers.

These sites provide an avenue for people to keep up with friends and family any time of the day.

The idea of being able to make new friends from all over the world has also made many sign on. Communication through these channels is about personal connections and communities of friends. It involves a high level of trust. If you are about to sign on, beware, as it is precisely this trusted environment and the millions of users that make online social networking sites such a tempting target for online criminals. These sites have become attractive marks for phishing and scamming attacks, enabling the criminals to gain access to valuable information or direct financial gain.

Recently, a pro-Georgia blogger Cyxymu’s accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal and Google’s Blogger and YouTube were targeted in a denial-of-service attack. Although this attack was aimed at a specific person, it affected millions of users.

F-Secure security adviser Sean Sullivan says that weak passwords make it much easier for criminals to hack. “Weak passwords provide a common way for criminals to get contact lists, phone numbers and other information which they can sell to spammers or use in targeted attacks to make money.” The damage caused by a hacked Facebook account is all the greater if the same password is also used for the user’s email account. This means the criminals can easily reset all the user’s online passwords, get information about banking details and find answers to security challenge questions. Sometimes the answers to personal security questions, for example middle names, house addresses and pets’ names, can even be found on Facebook. It is vital, he says, that different passwords are used for logging in to personal email accounts, Facebook and other social networking sites. Having different emails — primary, business and social network accounts — will also be a smart move. Sullivan advised social networkers to treat any request for financial help with caution and make a thorough identity check before sending any money, even when the messages appear to come from a family member or other trusted person. Here are some tips from F-Secure for safer social networking: l Always have separate and secure passwords for your email and social networking sites. l If you become aware of a Facebook security problem, post about it on your Wall so the community can take preventive action. l Pick your friends wisely and have a security guru among them!

It is vital that different passwords are used for logging into personal email accounts