Note: This happened to me last year. I thought my debit card was compromised and it originated from iTunes. I will buy nothing from iTunes ever again unless I use PayPal to purchase an iTunes gift card and then use the iTunes gift card to buy what I want from iTunes. This is serious.

"Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army"

Let’s all remember the reason for this three day weekend, but more importantly let’s not wait for a holiday to thank them. The freedoms we enjoy each and every day are in large part to their sacrifice: Thanks to all of our service men and women and definitely our veterans. Without all of you I would not be free today. God bless you all!

Memorial Day commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service.  Today we thank you and send up a special prayer for your families.  Where would this great nation be without people like you.

What does it look like?

This is spreading via a “hilarious video” (also comes in the form of “sexiest video ever”, “beach babes”, etc) posted on Facebook walls.  Always be wary of any video that asks you to install an application before you can view it.  This application is called “Media Player HD” I think but it definitely could come in other forms.  When you click on the video to try to view it you will be asked to “login”. NO!

Safety Note: ALWAYS check the URL in the address bar of your browser before entering credentials into ANY website.

If you see this posted on your wall by one of your friends, remove it immediately.  If you see it on others’ profiles or in your news feed most definitely don’t click on it, and if you feel like it maybe send a message to that friend explaining this to them or linking them to this post.  You could even comment on that post on their wall with a link to this post and a short sentence about the phishing/malware attack.

Here is a YouTube video (credit Websense Security Labs) that shows you exactly what it looks like and does:

What do I do if I’ve already fallen victim?

1) Change your Facebook Password.

2) Remove the application, usually called “Media Player HD”

• Click on the “Account” menu in the top right and choose “Privacy Settings”
• Click “Edit your settings” link under “Applications and Websites”
  

  (Click for larger view)

• Click the “Remove Link”
• You will get a pop-up. Find the application that you don’t recognize or you didn’t realize you added, it will most likely be called “Media Player HD” and click the checkbox beside that application and then click the “Remove Selected” button.
  

  (Click image for a larger view)

3) Run a virus/malware/spyware scan on your computer (if you have a PC, usually not necessary if you have a Mac but always a good safety step)

Summary

Always be suspicious of applications that you add on Facebook. This is going to be the most likely culprit when it comes to phishing/malware attacks.  As mentioned in my last post, still owe you guys 2 more blogs about Facebook lists and Application/Website settings.

Note: This blog is a little long but worth the read if you’re curious on how to best set up your privacy on Facebook. Plus it has pictures

Homepage Notification of new privacy settings.

I would just like to note something about privacy in general.  As I said in my intro post when all of this started with Facebook and privacy, posting something online is JUST like etching it in stone.  (please refer to previous post >> Facebook Privacy Part 1 – Intro & Phishing) In my (humble) opinion, the only person responsible for your information being private on the net (esp social networking sites) is you. Period.  That’s not to say that Facebook’s privacy settings were too complicated for the everyday user and definitely needed to be simplified.  So let’s take a look.

The link from the homepage notification takes you to an explanation page written by Facebook.  It’s a nice overview of the things you can control and is pretty easy to understand.  Click the link on that page to “Edit Your Privacy Settings”.

At the first announcement on Wednesday, I was a little concerned that they would change my settings to the “recommended” settings that were discussed so I was happy to see that that wasn’t the case.   I had most of my settings set to “Friends Only” previously and it definitely looks like those settings are maintained.  The settings that I had set to “Only Me” are marked as “Other”.

Settings Homepage

If you want to use the Recommended Facebook settings they still show you those and provide you with a button to change your settings to them. (Notice the Green Checkmark is beside my Custom settings indicating that those are the settings that are being used).

Facebook Recommended Settings

Now I have no issue showing my profile picture, my home town, my current city, my education and my workplace to Everyone in order for people to find me/recognize me when they join Facebook or are looking for old friends and I think that’s what Facebook is trying to get at here with these recommended settings though they are making more than I would care to available.  You can also see they provide an easy way to set every setting to one of the three groups (Everyone, Friends of Friends, and Friends Only).  So far so simple

Customize Privacy Settings

Now I’m going to go back to my Custom settings and take a look at how to change them.  From the Custom screen I click the “Customize settings” link. This doesn’t look too different from what we’re used to seeing.

Customize different settings

Now I have most of my stuff set to “Friends Only” as I said before.  But I wanted to talk about the first setting for “Posts By Me”.  What this sets is the DEFAULT setting for all of your posts to your wall, whether they be your status update, a picture, a link, etc.  You can still change this at the time you post it.  Just click the lock icon at the time of post and change the setting.  This is where Facebook lists come in handy.  Say you have some pictures of your kids and you only want your family members on Facebook to see them.  I will show steps on how you would do this in a not-too-distant future post! So Stay tuned!

Basic Directory Information

Another thing that is not really new, but easier to get to and definitely comes with a better explanation from Facebook is the Basic Directory Information settings.  From the privacy home page (shown above) click “View Settings” link under “Basic Directory Information”.  You get four choices for each settings

4 Choices for who views your information

Here’s how I would recommend setting your information if you want it to be more private

Private Settings (click image to enlarge)

Now I personally have my Current City and Hometown and my Education and Work set to “Everyone” because I think it helps people identify who you are before they try to add you.  That way they don’t get confused and think you are someone else. For instance, when I was in high school I went by my first name and I now go by my middle name so some people from high school might not recognize the name and a small picture.  The bottom line is, this is all to your taste and you have control over it!

Now if you click the “Preview My Profile” button from that settings page (seen above) you will see EXACTLY how your Facebook information looks to outsiders.  That way you can be sure that you aren’t sharing something you don’t mean to.  Here is what my profile looks like to everyone other than my approved friends.

Send a message is grayed out because I only let my friends send me messages and the only picture that’s visible is my profile picture.

One last thing: Instant Personalization. The setting that started it all  But you’ll have to check out my next post: “Facebook Privacy: Applications, Games and Websites”.  These settings haven’t changed but are good to know about!

Next two posts: “Facebook Privacy: Applications, Games and Websites” and “Facebook Privacy: Using Friend Lists to Control Your Posts”

Until Next Time,
Aleah

Image Credit: Paul Zanetti

In the wake of all of the backlash from their pilot program for sharing your facebook information in order to personalize your web browsing experience with other sites (IE Microsoft’s new online document editing system and Pandora), Facebook announces new “simpler” privacy options today.

They are not going to take away all of the granular options that they currently have that allow people to make certain posts viewable by list of friends or a certain network etc.  What they are doing is introducing new settings that basically allow you to easily stop sharing information. They are giving users one simple settings screen to control all sharing.  These “Basic” settings will give you 3 buckets of people to share information with, Everyone, Friends-of-Friends, and Friends-Only.

One thing I like is that they are going to retroactively make posts as private as you’d like them.  So if previously you were sharing your posts with Friends-of-Friends and you change it to Friends Only, this will apply to all posts not just future posts as it does now.

In the new settings Facebook will provide “recommended settings”, for example they recommend that you keep your bio and your status shared with “Everyone” but things like photos and videos should be more restricted.  Facebook also recommends that personal contact information should be set to Friends-Only.

Image Credit: Darwin Bell

As I said before the granular controls for sharing wall posts will still be there, and they are also going to introduce more granular controls for what is shared with Facebook applications

Apart from the new Basic settings for sharing, Facebook is also introducing a new way for you to see how your profile looks to people.  As of right now, you can see how your profile looks to those who are your friends.  That is, you can type in someone’s name and Facebook will show you what your profile looks like to that person.  With this set of privacy changes, Facebook is going to allow you to see what your profile looks like for people who aren’t in your friends list.  This way you can check and make sure that the information you are sharing with other Facebook users (not just the outside net) isn’t too revealing for your taste.

The theme here is obviously simplicity and that’s exactly what users have asked for.  I think Facebook should really get its props for admitting that it “missed the mark” on privacy and being quick and decisive in making changes to get their user-base feeling more secure in sharing information on their site.

Facebook says that they will be rolling out these new settings over the next few weeks and as soon as we can get at them we will get a message on our homepage/news feed.  We look forward to being able to see them soon.

First thing’s first, your information is rarely “safe” on the internet.  Posting something online is just like etching it in stone.  There are websites and companies out there that only work on providing a historical view of websites on the web.  Check this out from Way Back Machine:  History of JoshShilling.com You also have to understand that almost every website you share your information on has to back that information up somewhere else in case their server goes down or some other disaster happens.

When you share your information with any website you should always read their Privacy Policy.

Facebook’s Privacy Policy

The number one thing you should always remember about Facebook’s Privacy Policy (and all privacy policies in general, including those of your credit card companies) is that it can change at any time without notice.  That being said The New York Times reports that Facebook’s Privacy Policy has increased in length by just under 5000 words in the last 5 years. It is currently longer than the United States Constitution.  (No I do not trust The New York Times so I did verify this myself, but felt I still needed to give them credit because I read it there first

Now Facebook isn’t all “evil” when it comes to your information.  One common myth about Facebook is that they access your information, use it, and store it even after your account is deactivated. This is not true.  Well…it’s only partially true.  Your Facebook content like images can be stored on other people’s profiles (for example if you tag someone in a picture or they share your picture on their profile) so after you disable or deactivate your account those images can still be seen on the other person’s profile.  This doesn’t really bother me…but maybe it bothers you.  These are things you have to think about before you share your information ANYWHERE on the internet, not just on Facebook.

Phishing Attacks/Scams on Facebook

Facebook is the #2 most visited site on the internet (Google of course is #1).  That being said it makes sense that right now Facebook is subject to more phishing attacks than the FBI and the IRS.  So how do you keep yourself safe from phishing attacks? Mostly common sense (don’t click on links that look suspicious or come from people you don’t know, don’t open emails from people you don’t know, Facebook will NEVER ask you for your login information via email, when logging in check the URL in your browser’s address bar to make sure you actually are on facebook.com), but sometimes these people are sneaky.  One safeguard that Facebook has had in place for awhile is that they only allow you to be logged into your Facebook account from one computer at a time.  That is, if you login to your Facebook and someone else is already logged in, their session will be ended immediately.  That’s kind of nice but now good enough.

Facebook has now provided a way for users to “verify” computers as they use them to login to Facebook and then be notified when someone logs into their account from a computer that they have not previously used/verified.  Google has already provided something similar to this in GMail for quite some time.  When you login, they can show you the different sessions that are opened including the IP Address of the computer they are on (if maybe someone else is logged into your account and you know you haven’t given anyone your password) and you can force them to log out if you’d like.  Follow the steps below to enable this new feature for your Facebook account.

Step 1: Login to your Facebook and go to your Account Settings and Enable Notifications for your account

Click Account drop down in the top right corner and choose Account Settings.

Click the Change link next to Account Security

Turn notifications on

Step 2: Register Your Computer

You won’t be able to customize the settings for the new notifications until you register your current computer.

Logout and log back in.  (Click the Account drop down and choose Logout) When you login you will see a screen titled Register This Computer. Give your computer a name.  If this is not a public computer and you are the only one that uses it (most of the time, for example my boyfriend uses mine sometimes) then Check the checkbox to remember this computer.  If you are at a PUBLIC computer (computer lab, library, hotel, etc) DO NOT check that checkbox.  That way it will have to be registered every time and you will get  notification.

Register Your Computer and click Save

Now you will be able to see this computer is your list of registered computers by going back to your Account Settings and Account Security like you did in Step 1.

You will now get an email when a new computer is registered.  So that when you get an email and you know you didn’t do it you can login, reset your password, and remove that registration from the Account Settings page pictured above.  If you are unable to login because the hacker has already changed your password by the time you get the notification, contact Facebook immediately.

Important Note About Notifications and Cookies

Facebook stores a certificate on your computer in the form of a cookie.  A lot of times these cookies get cleared so don’t worry if you have to re-register your computer.

This is just Part 1 and I hope it helps!
Aleah

Click an image to get to the site and ORDER!

First Avenue Sound

Last night I went to First Avenue Sound with Jimmy VanCleve and Josh Shilling while they recorded vocals for the next Mountain Heart record.  In the studio there was a short hallway with cool lighting and some awesome guitars hanging on the wall.  As I’m still learning how to use all of the Manual settings on my new digital SLR but thanks to a good friend (and Chi O sister) Kristen Garten of Kristen Garten Photography I was able to get some neat pictures.

You can see the pictures at this “public” link (no need for a Facebook account): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044494&id=43701132&l=fa17577ec7

You can find information about Kristen’s business and see examples from her portfolio at her website http://kristengarten.com/ and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KristenGartenPhotography.

I look forward to learning much more about my new camera and different photography techniques.

Aleah

A new tradition in the Dillon household. A Hokie Tree!

I visited a lot with family, particularly my nephews and niece.  I also got to see Avatar in 3D with my brother, which was amazing.

I’m looking forward to all of the new projects, opportunities, and clients the new year brings. So 2010: bring it on!