With the explosion of the internet and particularly the growing interest in social networking sites, people can simply look online and see ‘who is on holiday’, ‘who is out with friends’ or ‘who is starting a new job’. All these status updates alert a lot of people of what their doing in real time.

However, many users of Social Networking sites are naive to secure the information they post to their profiles. Making it easy for cyber criminals to scrape personal details for their own uses. Another trick that happens on sites such as Facebook is unsuspecting users clicking on harmless looking links that claim ‘they’ll show you who is looking at your profile’. Fact is, most of these links want access to your profile details, their called Facebook Worms and their sole intention is to infect a persons personal computer with malware. The link then posts a message to your profile telling others to perform the same task you just undertook and so the Worm spreads, collecting data as it goes.

There are sites out there that will help protect you if you’re unsure about clicking on a link – even if that link has been shortened by URl shortening services such as bit.ly etc.. One such site is the AVG Threat Labs (www.avgthreatlabs.com/sitereports) that allows you to enter a websites address and instantly see if that site is safe to browse…

Remember, when we talk of the term cyber crime we are not just talking of large multi national companies that deal in millions of pounds, it refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. With 500+ million people now activily posting their details onto social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, You Tube or Twitter, people have to be aware that they could be leaving not only their computers open to cyber criminals but their homes and businesses as well.

In today’s society we can never be too careful, with opportunistic theft and snatch and grab on the increase we have to protect ourselves and our possessions, whether it be with personal alarms or CCTV. We are always looking for new ways to fight crime whether it be through the local police, private companies or facebook. Yes, that’s right Facebook!
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On the 20th of January 2009, America will come to a stand still as Barack Obama’s inauguration as the next President of the United States takes place. One thing is for sure, it will be a security nightmare to manage. Normally, an inauguration of a new president is considered a National Special Security Event, which means the Secret Service is in charge of the countries security for that day. However, given the circumstances, as America makes history by electing its first black president, the country will be under the control of the Secret Service for 4 days.

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