Us old guys who HATE Facebook aren't always Dinosaurs.

[Corrine]

You got that one right! There's also the "me only" setting seen in FB for privacy as well. In many cases you won't see anything on someone's Info page but you go to the next contact and whamo a full page resume'!

Good point about the "me only" setting. I've used that for a lot of information.

Another issue is the location information people share, checking in to and from work, publicly sharing information about holiday and business travels -- an open invitation to thieves.

 

[FranzB]

Maybe the only way out is to have two computers with different providers, even on different lines (one, e.g., on a telephone line if you still have a fixed line connection, and another one via the TV cable). One you only use now and then for "sensitive stuff (could be a cheaper netbook), the other to be used for all the rest. This would give you two IP numbers.
Any comments on that?
Another point about all this data gathering is the truth or validity of the data. I mean, i can put all kinds of nonsense on the net, or FB, about myself. Who guarantees it's all true? They may be gathering false data.

 

[seekermeister]

I have no interest in Facebook, but it seems that it has an interest in me...or perhaps I should say in us. Most websites has some trackers watching our activities, even this one has Google Analytics and sometimes Google Plus 1, but when I browse the IMDb website, the list is somewhat longer and usually includes facebook, twitter and others that I don't recognize. The screenshot is just a short list, because it varies depending on the time of day.

EDIT: After looking closer, it is not the time of day that determines the number of trackers, it is the page that you are viewing. The second screenshot is what appeared when I selected a particular movie.

 

[FranzB]

Doesn't the option "tell websites not to track me" (under Options-Security in Firefox) prevent this?
It should.

 

[seekermeister]

I use Opera, which doesn't have a setting such as that. I use an extension with it called Ghostery, which is what displays those bubbles, if one chooses for it to do so.

 

[pragnesh89]

I think it's fairly easy to hack into emails by using facebook. Most of these 'idiots' on fb provide their phone mumbers, hometowns, where they were born, what they like and the funny thing is that they use the same information to answer their security questions for yahoo mail, gmail, etc. I find it hilarious to be honest.

 

[Infinite]

I would probably have long passwords if I could remember them and not have to retype all 64 letters or so because I typed ONE wrong.

 

[FranzB]

I would probably have long passwords if I could remember them and not have to retype all 64 letters or so because I typed ONE wrong.

Remember: you can use simple additions to a rather short password to make it much more secure but still easy to remember and typing it without errors. For instance, Af6y1..... is much more secure than Af6y1
See the info on GRC.com

 

[seekermeister]

Infinite,

If you used Opera, it has a password manager, so that when a login page appears, a button on the browser's interface appears, so that all that you have to do is to click it...if you had Opera save the cookie.

EDIT: Of course, you may not want to save those cookies, if others use your computer.

 

[Infinite]

Infinite,

If you used Opera, it has a password manager, so that when a login page appears, a button on the browser's interface appears, so that all that you have to do is to click it...if you had Opera save the cookie.

EDIT: Of course, you may not want to save those cookies, it others use your computer.

No-one uses my computer but I just don't like temp files, etc. I have Private Browsing on each browser due to the fact the history is so cluttered in the address bar. If I need a website I bookmark it.

I went from Firefox to Google Chrome to Safari, then Opera and back to Firefox which I am using now due to lack of Addons on other Browsers, but I still have all those installed. I change my default browser a lot :/

 

[seekermeister]

It is said that variety is the spice of life, but too much spice covers nuances of the real taste of browsing. I have been using Opera since version 6, and have no plans to change.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Profitable and Safe

I'm not actually surprized to see a report like that when you compare what was considered the high value target the thieves were after. The typical FB user generally put more then some general information unless they slip up like phone numbers and other things while the car theft industry is big business.

I'm fairly sure that cyber-crime is more profitable (and safer) than car theft.

If I want to steal your car, I have to physically be present.
Most car thefts are committed by low-level criminals (although I have heard of exotic/luxury car theft gangs).

If I can get vital info, I can pillage your bank account, from the safety of another country.
An even safer scam is to use the info to create false documents and then to use those documents to get credit cards or loans.

Another "bonus" with cyber-crimes is that not all of the victims are willing to report the incidents.

Another trend I've read about recently is the creation and sale of botnets.

 

[FranzB]

Some additional remarks about people giving information on the net.
Many people love doing it and many people love to read it. A good example is here on the forum, viz. the thread "What security setup do you have?".
Almost 36,000 views and a whopping 541 replies. Still i would like to ask what the value of it is, unless the thread starter wants to do an investigation. But in that case i would like to point out that the 541 people who answered are in no way representative of computer users in general (and that should be obvious without any further explanation from me). The whole thing is useless and borders almost on voyeurism, if anything. People just want to "spy" on others. FB is based on the same principle.

 

[Borg 386]

Another issue is the location information people share, checking in to and from work, publicly sharing information about holiday and business travels -- an open invitation to thieves.

The site "Please Rob Me" shed some light on this little item, giving information on your whereabouts. Hey, if your friends can see it, so can other people. Nothing like letting the world know "I'm going to be gone from home for the entire week."

The problem comes when users also post these locations to Twitter, says Boy van Amstel, one of the founders of Please Rob Me. Then the information becomes publicly available, making it theoretically possible for a robber (or anyone else) to keep tabs on when you say you're in your home or not.

Please Rob Me: Site Shows Dangers of Foursquare, Twitter - TIME

A lot of little snippets of information end up as a useable database of someones personal habits. Farmville is notorious for this tactic. "We'll offer you an extra cow/pig/land every now & then for just a little bit of information." As the game goes on, you get offered a little more in exchange for seemingly harmless little items such as phone #, where you shop, how many people are in your family, etc., etc. It adds up in the end.

I don't use FB myself, but I know many kids at school that do. I generally caution them about posting anything questionable since it can come back to bite you in the butt. What you put on the net doesn't disappear, it can usually be found years later.

It's now common practice for employers to do a Google/Facebook search on prospective employees. If they find anything offensive or deemed "unbecoming of company standards", so much for the job offer. And if you Google it, more & more people are being fired from jobs for "drunken posts" or derogatory comments about their workplaces, even if they were off the company clock.

Definitely an interesting era we're entering.

 

[Infinite]

What do you guys suggest how my passwords for each site should be?

How many characters, capital/lower case, punctuation, etc.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

What do you guys suggest how my passwords for each site should be?

How many characters, capital/lower case, punctuation, etc.

Use this to find out!

Password Strength Checker

THW

 

[FranzB]

Slowly but surely i am wondering more and more about this whole sysytem of passwords. Surely if someone is trying to crack a password many tries have to be made. Why are you then not warned that a wrong password is entered over and over again? Ok, this warning could be turned off or circumvented but only after the break-in has been sucessful. Sometimes you can not continue giving in wrong passwords after the 5-th try and you have to wait 30 minutes or so. But you are only made aware that something is wrong when you yourself give in the password and are told you have to wait a certain time. You do not get the warning if you are not logging in during those 30 minutes waiting time. What would be so difficult about arranging such a warning???

 

[DustSailor]

Sure, a password crack and its all over, but everyone does realize that you can choose who sees anything you put on facebook right? Anything from posts to personal information can be hidden from whoever you like at your leisure. They can be friends, or the public...

 

[FranzB]

................
........................................................
They can be friends, or the public...

Yeah, and how do you know a friend is a friend? In real life, i think, we are much more fussy.
And how many people of those 500 million facebook addicts know how to set their options or go through the trouble of finding out? And above all why can't you phone your friends once in a while?? Real time is a lot better among friends.

 

[HammerHead]

Old Guy

I don't hate Facebook. I just find it inane.