Beware Of Facebook: Not Everyone Is A Friend
You receive a friend request from a stranger that you do not personally know, and you do not have five friends in common with them. Do you accept it? What can it hurt, right? We recommend avoiding friendship with strangers on Facebook. Hackers have started to target victims by posing as a friend. Once they have your account information, the scammers will probe further and offer information that makes them seem real, but they are stealing as many pictures and information as they can copy.
After they have done this, they can create a fake profile. Facebook can also be used as a method for the start of identity theft. While you may not think twice about accepting friend requests from strangers, we beg you to be aware of the possible consequences. Cyber criminals can use sensitive information like hometown, birthday, employment history to create a host of problems. If you do receive a suspicious request, report the scam to the Better Business Bureau and Facebook. Chicago IT support specialists recommend whenever using Facebook, you want to exclude valuable information about yourself and keep your privacy settings on.
Proactive Networks of Los Angeles has also seen where these strangers will post virus links on your business page that can cause mayhem for a company. Always exercise caution with your Facebook page and who you friend on Facebook.
Beware of Phone Apps
Downloading unknown apps on your Smartphone can have unforeseen consequences that you may not have counted on. For example, there are some apps that have been designed so that they can collect personal information. Without realizing what’s happening, these apps can lead to identity theft, passwords being stolen and account numbers being stolen through malicious malware or spyware. Some of these apps have even been designed to listen in on private conversations.
In general, the paid apps will normally be safer than the free apps because they do not request as much permission. For example, many of the free apps want to download your contact list, location and much more. Meanwhile, a paid app will first ask you for approving the charge. Another one of the reasons that phone apps are free relates to how they are getting compensated by organizations that plan to steal user data.
Business owners especially have to be careful about using their Smartphone. Having a child can sometimes be a vulnerability because, thinking that nothing can go wrong, the unsuspecting child downloads an app on blind faith.
You should also avoid the use of open WiFi networks wherever possible. While it has become a common practice, a lot of hackers tend to target these locations because of the potential vulnerabilities and exploits. If you do get hacked, call Intelligent Technical Solutions of Chicago for how to proceed for the best results.