Transcript Social Networking Slides (Short Presentation)

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]