How you can stay safe online

How alert are you about online threats? The results from an online consumer poll highlight the vulnerability of social networks as it sees an increased activity especially during the festive season.

The report by AVG Technologies in association with the CMO Council reveals that less than one third of consumers take adequate precautions to protect their personal data and identity online leading to many security breaches.

According to the poll, nearly 20 per cent experienced identity theft, 47 per cent have been victims of malware infections and 55 per cent have seen phishing attacks.

A majority of social networkers suffer from web-borne security problems (e.g. malware, phishing, identity theft). Some of the statistics are alarming:

• 21 per cent accept contact offerings from members they don't recognize
• 64 per cent click on links offered by community members or contacts
• 64 per cent infrequently or never change social network passwords  
• 57 per cent don't often adjust privacy settings
• 90 per cent don't inform their social network administrator regularly on security issues or concerns

It is estimated that social media network membership will top 600 million by 2012 and mobile social networking is forecast to reach 770 million by 2012.

The risks to privacy on social networks looms large. The exploitation of vulnerabilities in sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are a security concern for 83 per cent of businesses, according to Deloitte.

Here's how you can stay safe online:

• Don't accept pop-ups or prompts for software unless you're armed with web scanner software such as AVG's free LinkScanner
• Don't post or submit confidential personal data
• Change password at least once per month
• Don't let others access their social networks on your computer
  Don't auto save your password, and clear your history at least weekly
• Don't accept friend requests or request friends that you don't know