Are all the users concerned about learning Facebook security so that everyone can have a better internet experience? If you have never touched any part of Facebook security, here are 5 quick tips to get your Facebook life secured.

1. Create a strong password for authentication

Passwords can be easily broken by brute-force, if you choose to use a short and simple password. If you don’t have a strong password to protect your account, then whatever security guides that you apply below is not going to do any better. The key here is to have a long and complicated password where complexity is the combination of lower case, upper case, numeric and special characters like symbols.

2. Enable secure HTTPS connection

Simple HTTP connection is totally outdated. It can be tapped and extremely vulnerable to man in the middle attack. As a result, Facebook offers the HTTPS connection so that all the data submitted from your computer to the Facebook server is completely encrypted. Even if there is a man in the middle who taps your connection, all the person gets is gibberish data.

3. Enable login notification

If you are really unlucky where your Facebook credentials are stolen and being used to login, enabling the login notification will keep you notified about this event. By knowing that someone is using your Facebook account without your permission, you can immediately kick them out and set a new password so that they can never login anymore. This feature is extremely good where you can enable notifications from both email and mobile SMS.

4. One Time Password in login approval

One Time Password is a two factor authentication method where you can enable all logins from unknown devices to use One Time Password to ensure that only you can login from an unknown device. By making use of this, there are only two ways for the hacker to use your Facebook identity. One is to steal your recognized device which is your computer or smartphone. The other way is to steal your mobile phone to get the one time password.

5. Logging out from Facebook

Though it might seems to be the easiest, but it is the action that most people forget to perform. Whenever most people are done with checking and replying messages in Facebook, they just close the web browser and walk away from the computer assuming that the session is logged out. Unfortunately, that is a big gamble and not all the web browsers works the same. Some still retain your previous session even though the web browser is closed. Remember to logout. However, now you can also manage your sessions wherein you can perform a remote logout to the computer in which you had just closed the web browser without proper logout.

Guest author Alan Tay is the author of IT Security Column where he usually writes about IT Security and computer tips. You can also follow him on Twitter @AlanOnSecurity to get the latest tips on security. Image credit jannoon028/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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I was trying to access Facebook at a friend’s computer, and as I browsed to the website, I got this alert and Facebook was blocked.

I tried Twitter.com and same for Twitter! Same for email… my entire social interaction was blocked.

My friend chuckled and informed that he had manually blocked social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and all his email accounts so that he could concentrate on his work productivity and not waste time. The blocked urls were released after a few hours (as per his settings) when he was relaxed and free to interact on these sites.

I really like the idea. How many times do we get started to work, and get hooked to chat or Facebook on the way.

How to Block Facebook, Twitter, Email

I hope you are using the Google Chrome browser (its the best out there), and install the Website Blocker extension. Edit some settings and you can block any website for as many hours as you want.

Choose the settings wisely and the extension provides a simple interface to  block websites, as many as you want and at custom times you want. You can also type an optional message.

For example, this code will block access to Facebook.com urls from 0900 to 1700 (9am-5 pm). I have been trying this for a few days and I assure you it is worth your time to use this – and get on Facebook, Twitter and email when you really want to.

How to Block Any Website for Employees / Users

This extension works well if you want to prevent access of social media sites by your employees. Simply block the sites during working hours and they will never know how to access them.

1. Hide the Website Blocker icon from the Chrome toolbar. Right click the icon and click “Hide button”

2. Disable the link from showing in the block message alert which can guide people to disable the options. Also disable the ability to edit settings from the popup alert options

Unless people really know how to browse around into Chrome settings, identify the website blocker, experiment with its settings and disable it –  it should work to block websites for most people. Just keep Chrome as default and only browser on the computer.

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Facebook Secure Browsing

Facebook allows users to browse Facebook over asecure https connection, which will add added security to your Facebook account. The feature is not enabled by default, but you can change it in your Facebook settings easily.

Go to facebook.com/editaccount.php and visit the Account Security details. Look for the Secure browsing option – “Choose Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible”, tick the checkbox and Save.

Next time you visit Facebook, look for the secure icon on the browser location bar and the https url instead of the http url.

Why doesn’t Facebook enable Secure browsing by default for all users? Well firstly the page loading speed is much slower over a secure connection. Secondly, not all Facebook apps will support secure https connections, so they will not work.

So enable HTTPS in Facebook and get a more secure Facebook browsing experience today. Do it now. Remember if Your Facebook Got Hacked – its usually your fault!. Explain this to your Kids with this Facebook safety video.

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However, remember that many other Google search products like Google Images and Google Maps are not currently available over SSL and will not work as desired.

Benefits of Encrypted SSL Google Search

SSL is short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol that encrypts search queries and search traffic, such that it can’t be read by third parties (like ISP’s), thereby providing secure Internet communications for web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging etc. SSL search typically does not send referrer information to any HTTP links you visit (but browser will still send referrer information to HTTPS links).

Remember SSL works only on on Google web search (not Google Images and Google Maps). You’ll continue to see integrated results like images and maps, but clicks will take you out of encrypted search mode. This will also not bypass Google logs for your search queries (as shown in your web history), nor will it prevent malware like installed keyloggers from letting third party catch your search queries.

Confirm Secure Connection

If you see the browser bar you will note the url begins with https (and not http). Also note a locked icon beside the url in all modern browsers which will display the encryption details of the site.

Will you make encrypted Google Search your homepage now?

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Typically the phishing scam targets Mac users by redirecting to fake websites, which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus and offers Mac Defender (or MacProtector, MacSecurity) “anti-virus” software to remove the virus. Apple will release a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants… but right now you need to protect and clean your Mac.

Remove MacDefender, MacProtector, MacSecurity

Apple gives detailed steps for removal. If such a malware security software attempts to install or is auto-installed -

• Quit Safari or any other browser > or Force Quit.
• Cancel the installation process
• Never enter your administrator password
• Delete the installer (Downloads folder > Drag installer to Trash > Empty Trash)

To remove the malware

• Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor > All Processes > Quit Process – MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector (this step will also help you find if your Mac is already infected)
• Applications > Drag installer to Trash
• Open System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items > Remove app

Mac computers were very popular due to the fact that common Windows viruses did not affect Macs. But of late more malware are being created targeting Mac computers, so no wonder so many antivirus software are being developed for the Mac OS X.

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The other part of this hard work is plagiarism, i.e., stealing others content without prior permission. It is not new on the World Wide Web and hurts a lot when a content thief gets benefits from search engine rankings/preference. The situation becomes worse when search engine alleges you to have duplicate content even if you’re its original creator/author. Is there any way to protect your content? Yes, there are and we’ll discuss the ways to protect your online content in this write up.

File a Copyright

You should file a copyright of your online content published on your Website(s) in your Country. If you search on Google with keywords ‘take copyright of content’ then you’ll get dozens of URL asking to offer Government-authorized copyrights online quickly and easily. Please remember that taking a copyright is neither quick nor easy, it depends on a country’s policies and procedures, and most of the times Governments do not approve such online copyright filings from third-parties. We suggest you filing the copyright by visiting Copyright Offices physically or do an e-filing on their Website. Following are few URLs of copyright Websites for different countries: -

1. United States of America – http://www.copyright.gov
2. India – http://copyright.gov.in
3. United Kingdom – http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm
4. Australia – http://www.copyright.org.au

You can also search to find the copyright Website of your country, but prefer to visit .GOV domain names. If no such authenticated domain is there in your results then contact your friends or find Copyright Office in your country. Visit the office directly to file the copyright. Few countries also allows e-filing from their websites only.

Take a License

Most of us do not have enough time to physically visit the Government’s premises for filing the copyright of online content. In addition, the new startups always try to avoid legal proceedings like registering their company and filing copyright until they earn some money.

In such cases, you can take Creative Commons (CC) License from Creative Commons Organization. This organization offers six different licenses allowing you either to share your work or to protect it. Follow below steps to take a Creative Commons License,

1. Visit their Website – creativecommons.org
2. Click on ‘Choose License’ button in right side
3. Fill a form and select the appropriate options
4. This will register your Website’s content in free and generate a script
5. Affix this script in your Website to show you’re protected.

It is noteworthy to mention that you can also take a Creative Commons License even if you’ve already obtained a copyright in your own country. The Creative Commons License gives you an additional protection. If you want to distribute your work free with your permission only then you can go for GNU Free Documentation License. After taking GNU License, others have to take your permission before publishing your content.

DMCA Protection Kit

DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Online service provider companies including search engines, Web Hosting Providers, Internet Service Providers, and Websites follow this act to protect the copyrights. As per Wikipedia article on DMCA,

“DMCA Title II, the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (“OCILLA”), creates a safe harbor for online service providers (OSPs, including ISPs) against copyright liability if they adhere to and qualify for certain prescribed safe harbor guidelines and promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material from their systems) if they receive a notification claiming infringement from a copyright holder or the copyright holder’s agent. OCILLA also includes a counter notification provision that offers OSPs a safe harbor from liability to their users upon notice from such users claiming that the material in question is not, in fact, infringing. OCILLA also provides for subpoenas to OSPs to provide their users’ identity.” ( source: Wikipedia)

You can take benefit of this act to show your Website and its content’s copyright is protected by DMCA. Visit DMCA Website, sign up, get a DMCA badge, and add it to your Website. If you think that your content is stolen or its copyright is infringed then you can purchase a DMCA Toolkit. This toolkit (Website Protection Pro) helps you to identify the content theft, prove its ownership and in claiming online service providers to take action against the alleged Websites/Publishers.

Prove Content is Yours

Yes, you’ve written the content from scratch on your own even without taking help of online resources. Still, you’re required to prove that your content is original and only created by you. How can you do this? You can check your content at following plagiarism-checking Websites and obtain their badges of protection: -

1. Copyscape
2. DupliChecker
3. Plagiarisma
4. Plagium

These services check whether your content has been copied from anywhere on Internet or not. In addition, they provide you badges to show on your Website that your content is protected and free from plagiarism.

Copyscape offers a nice paid service and you’ve to pay only 5 cents per search. You can check 2000 words per search as per Copyscape’s standards. If you’re writing for monetization then it is a very small amount to save you from legal proceedings. You can also signup with its alerting service, which notifies when someone copies your original content.

Conclusion

If there are ways to copy someone’s content and use it, then there are ways to protect your online content from theft. You can take Copyright in your country, get an online Creative Commons License or GNU Free Documentation License, protection from DMCA toolkit, and use Copyscape/Plagiarisma to prove you’ve original content.

Guest author Keshav Arora is a technical writer working with Ipraxa, a full service web agency offering a wide range of services that can be broadly categorized into web design and development, web application development, mobile application development and Internet Marketing services.

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If the stolen content ranks higher than the original one, visitors go to another website instead of yours!  In order to set things straight, you should learn how to locate any instances of stolen content and remedy the situation, because you can face a lot of problems if you don’t address the issue soon enough.

Re-Evaluated Google Results

The recent Google update has thrown the web community into disarray with its Panda/Farmer update.  The new algorithm aimed to re-evaluate the quality of websites, and as a result, 12% of results changed.

According to many SEO-mindful webmasters, the main problem with the Panda update is that the algorithm confuses legitimate websites with the original content for those that blatantly stole it.  For anyone that spends plenty of time and money on developing original and high-quality content, this is a blow to the SEO framework and contradicts everything about it.

The rule of thumb for so long is that you’re supposed to experience better organic rankings in the search engines due to original content.   As of lately, however, thieves stealing your content can cause you to face lower SEO ranking, and this is not good for your business at all.  What you should do in order to protect your website from this development is to engage in proper anti-theft practices.

Where Is Your Stolen Content?

Of course, if you want to remedy the issue of stolen content, you should know where to find it in the first place.  Here are tools that you can take advantage of in order to weed out stolen content, no matter how deep in the Internet it is:

• CopyScape – This specialized search tool is any web developer’s best friend against plagiarism.  There are two versions of the tool.  The free one allows you to input a link and a search will take place.  For the paid version, you can input text and have it checked for plagiarism as well.  This tool will locate websites where your content is located, so you can take the measures you desire in reporting those websites.
• Google Alerts – Originally created for people who want to track interesting topics, you can use this tool also to search for stolen content.  The input is limited at 2048 characters; however, this won’t be much of an issue because an excerpt of your content will surely jump start the search.

For graphic designers, you can check out this tool for your content search:

• Digimarc – This watermarking service can protect your graphics or photos, but an interesting feature present is a tracking service they have.  You can search for images used other than on your website to find out who stole your image content.

Protecting Your Content

Once you find out who stole your content, you can now get ready to bring justice for the content you worked so hard to create.  Google spiders constantly index websites as they crawl around, so you can take initiative measures and get your content indexed in search engines before anyone else does, especially if you’ve had previous experience of stolen content and know to take the SEO advantage.  Matt Cutts, of the Search Quality group in Google, suggests ways of protecting your content.

• Twitter posts tend to be followed faster, so if you tweet about your article or content, you can get indexed sooner.
• pubsubhubbub, or a pinging service, gets your content on the web by sending the word out about your new content.
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (.pdf) notices are important in handling disputes, especially when you take the issue into a legal sense, which allows you to protect your content very effectively.

Reporting Stolen Content

One of the best methods of reporting stolen content, protecting your copyright in the process, is through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or the DMCA.  What this does is provide legal coverage of your content, which will provide you the necessary means of claiming it as yours.

The DMCA focuses on anti-piracy measures of blocking stolen content.  Since you are the author of your content (if you have an official copyright for your content), you hold legal ownership of it, and by law any violators who challenge your ownership should receive due sanction.

The DMCA centers on you, the original owner, creating a notice to the person who stole your content to take the content down.  The legal formality strengthens the impact of the dispute, which can end in two ways: they can counter-dispute it or simply take the content down.

The DMCA notice can be quite tricky to fill in, especially if you’re not familiar with legal terms. The right course of action here is to hire an attorney to help you out.  This will allow you to smoothly go through the process.  Alternatively, you can check out Google’s DMCA page and work from there to file a complaint.

The requirement for the DMCA is to designate a U.S. Copyright Office agent that certifies your ownership of the content.  The Copyright Office contains a comprehensive list of agents you can use.  This will give you the formal grounds you need in establishing the complaint, which helps you address the individual of your concerns on the stolen content issue.

Reporting your stolen content is the first and most important step you should take once you’ve verified who stole your content.  This measure will allow you to maintain your rights to your content, especially for the SEO ranking you’ve worked so hard for.

Content originality should not be taken lightly, as pieces of text or graphics to be used at any given point of time by anyone, especially when SEO or finances are involved.  Original content is what reigns in the huge hub of information on the Internet.  With the effects the recent Google Update in place, you should check out your SEO ranking now to see if Google indexed the wrong website.  In doing so, web developers and graphics designers can protect the content they worked hard for.  Know your legal rights, as your content isn’t just words or pictures strung together – it is quality that breathes.

Guest author Brian Flores is a copywriter for InMotion Hosting, one of the top dedicated server providers in the country. He works with a team of awesome writers to post useful tutorials on WebHostingHelpGuy. You can follow him on Twitter @WHHG_InMotion or @BrianAFlores. Image by Johnny Grim under CC.

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The message goes – “When you confirm someone as your Facebook friend, you invite them into your life. Confirm only people you know.” Very true. Send it to your little ones.

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