Social Networking Brian Oswald [email protected].

33
Social Networking Brian Oswald [email protected]

Transcript of Social Networking Brian Oswald [email protected].

Social Networking

Brian Oswald

[email protected]

Examples of Social Network Sites

What is Social Networking?

Online tools to build or maintain relationships

Old school friends Family Business associates Others who share common interests

Community Focus

User-Centric Interest-Centric (Communities)

User-Centric

Each user has a dedicated 'Home' page. User news, interests, activities are

posted here for 'followers' to read and comment on.

Interest-Centric

Groups form around specific interests Individual users might have profile pages,

but those are not of major importance to the site.

Social Network Uses

Informational General-purpose knowledge,

encyclopedic, current events Professional

Business research, business networking, job hunting

(Continued)

Uses (Continued)

Personal Staying in contact with friends Locating old / new friends

Activity Groups Find a group of people that want to get

out and do something you enjoy

Site / Usage

Facebook Started as a way to keep track of friends

in / after college. Mainly User-Centric, but expanding to

include groups.

LinkedIn

Professional Networking User-Centric

Meetup.com

Find groups of people participating in activities.

Group-Centric

Flickr

Entire community based around one activity (photography)

User-Centric

Benefits (Summary)

Stay in touch with people you know Find others with similar interests Share your life with your friends Share your interests with the world

Social Network Dangers

There is no real security on the Internet Internet is World-Wide, laws are not What is secure today, can be hacked

tomorrow. People who are your friends today, might

not be tomorrow.

We Endanger Ourselves

US Government study showed the following;

A belief the Internet provides anonymity Lack of physical proximity provides false

sense of security Information tailored for friends, forgetting

who all might see it Attempts to impress others

No Anonymity

There are certain points that all traffic must pass through, where it can be tracked.

Your local connection Your ISP The remote ISP The remote site

Transparent Internet

The Internet was not designed for security Encryption is a modern addition to the

Internet Most sites do not use encryption Even if your traffic is encrypted, I can still

tell who you are, and who you are talking to. I just cannot see what you are saying.

FireSheep

Many sites use encryption to protect your login, but then do not encrypt the traffic after that.

A cookie is used like an ID card, so that you do not have to keep sending your login.

That cookie can be copied, and your account hacked.

Physical Presence

Talking big when the threat is away. The Internet gives the feeling of being

away from everyone, but really makes them closer than ever.

We feel safe in our homes, but the Internet brings the outside world into our homes.

Faith the Web Can Keep Secrets

User-centric Web sites offer controls to protect our data. We select who can see it.

The bigger the site, the bigger the target for hacking.

Each one of your friends could be tricked into revealing their login, and then a hacker can know what they know.

Instant Bullhorn

Never has it been so easy to say something at a moment of stress, to the whole world, that you immediately regret.

Be careful what you say in an attempt to impress someone, or in response to something that upset you. It will be on record forever.

No 'Undo' Button

Once something is on the Internet, there may be no taking it back. You can go back to the site and delete what you wrote, but you cannot be sure it has not already been archived somewhere, or that someone else has not saved a copy for their own records.

Post nothing you would not want to see on a billboard along the Interstate.

Mistakes We Make

Over-sharing Activities Mixing Personal and Professional 'Tweet' Rage Connection Competition Password Sloth Trigger Finger Endangering Others

Over-sharing Activities

The more someone knows about you, the better they are at convincing you or your friends that they know you.

Do you want everyone to know where you are all the time?

Do you want to want everyone to know when you will be away from the house for extended periods (Vacation)?

Personal and Professional

Sitting at the computer at home can lead you to being less formal. Be aware of posting to professional sites when in this mindset.

Many employers will search the social networks to find out about potential employees.

Tweet Rage (Flame War)

It is so easy to fire off a quick and witty response to someone who has just upset you.

This generally invites a response. This process can quickly get out of hand.

Use caution when your emotions are running hot.

Connection Competition

It is natural to get pulled into competitions The more connections you have, the more

people who can read the stuff you post. This may in many cases include not just

your direct connections, but their friends as well

Makes it easy for scammers to get into your network

Passwords

The best password is the one you cannot remember. :-)

Avoid 'dictionary' words Use a two-part password

Short random combination with a letter, number, and symbol, plus another easy pattern (song lyric, etc)

Passwords (Continued)

Do not use the same password at more than one site.

Otherwise, if any site is hacked, then the hacker has the password to ALL of your sites.

Change passwords regularly at sensitive sites.

Secret Question / Answer is a password bypass.

A Danger to Others

Be careful what you share. Not only about yourself, but also about your family and friends.

Even if I am not a member of Facebook, my friends could be posting pictures of me.

Be Careful What You Share

Avoid posting enough information to make you specifically identifiable

My Name - OK My City - OK My Name AND City - NOT OK

The more I know, the easier I can scam you, your friends, or businesses (Utilities, Cable, Stores, Banks, etc..)

Summary

Social Network sites can be very useful, and a lot of fun.

The Internet is a dangerous, lawless place. Use it wisely.

Be careful who you invite to see your information

Be careful what you put out into the world

Thank You!

Thank you for coming! Questions?

Brian Oswald

[email protected]