Social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga, etc. have become all the rage as the cultural zeitgeist has moved towards online life. People do everything from their computers these days, so why not add socializing onto it? While they are a lot of fun and can keep one connected to far away friends, these sites can also be dangerous if not used correctly, and unfortunately, not many people do. Here are some quick tips to help you stay safe and secure online.

#1: Utilize your Security settings:
When you log onto and sign up for one of these sites, there is always a toolbar somewhere on the screen that will say something along the lines of “settings”. Most people are too busy blogging and chatting to worry about such an unsocial part of their experience, but it is necessary. When you sign up, you release your password, e-mail, and other personal information to the site. Some options in here even can stop your information from being sold to advertising agencies for a quick profit.

#2: Make your profile private:
Unless you are a business or a band, you will want your profile to be private. You can most likely find the privacy options in the settings tab. This will allow only people whom you designate as friends via an invite or a message to be able to view and comment on your profile. This will also keep people you don’t know from trying to get at your personal information.

#3: Watch out who you “friend”:
The main premise of most of these sites is to have friends. These are a great feature to be had, as it allows you to instantly communicate with these people and separates them in alphabetical order. Some people take this too far though. They think that having the most friends is a game, and their inflated egos lead them to request and accept random people, allowing more people access to their page with all sorts of sensitive information. Who you think is a friend might not actually be a friend.

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In the “Information Generation”, the zeitgeist and buzzword of today Internet security and privacy; how do I browse anonymously online? While many people are concerned with the matter of privacy, it turns out most people do nothing about it, or what they do is not nearly enough.

It is a scary world these days. British magazines “The Sun” and “The News of the World” were recently accused of doing the unheard of, even for the “gutter press”; they allegedly tapped celebrities phones to find out what they were up to in order to check up on them and have more things to report about. Seems like Orwell is turning in his grave right now. This was a wake-up for the public: while celebrities are famous, they are just people, and if this could happen to them, it could happen to us!

This scandal followed a recent one, although the latter was not the fault of the press. Photographs, personal information, and even pictures of family of Sir John Sawers, Britain’s soon to be chief spy, surfaced in many gossip magazines after his wife posted them on FaceBook. Obviously, his cover was compromised by an entire nation of peeping eyes.

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Right now the world is in a state of change; a metamorphosis if you will. Just as the ugly caterpillar crawls into its cocoon and emerges as a majestic butterfly, the business world is in a transition.  Right now, the economy has taken a turn for the worst, and is scaring even the highest echelons of society. Globalization has always helped spur the economy back to health by expanding business into other regions, but it is not easy. Different countries have different rules and regulations than does the U.S., and sometimes these fall into conflict.

Privacy laws are a prime example. In the U.S., privacy laws are stringent for the public, and many services are available to bolster your defenses even more. In other, less-than-democratic countries, the words “private proxy” or “anonymous IP changer” probably aren’t even in the local vernacular. One specific paragon of this would be online banking. In America, no expense is spared to ensure digital privacy. Everything you can think of; encryption, anti-identity theft, and the use of secure tunnels makes all transactions virtually impenetrable. In other countries, proxies and other privacy software are frowned upon and oftentimes blocked by the government. These places, in their attempts to delete all of their citizen’s privacy so they can be more easily monitored, actually place them at higher risk for online crimes.

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FBHive is a new site started by a couple of young bohemians who are self-proclaimed “social networking addicts.” The site will feature upcoming news, events, and the spectrum of opinions about FaceBook and networking in general. Launched to a large audience and with many visitors, the site has found out and revealed a programming bug that allows unregistered users and other who would normally be blocked to access these seemingly secure profiles.

For those who are not into the whole networking social Internet scene, here is FaceBook Security 101: When setting up a profile, the site warns you not to disclose too much personal information because it will be on the Internet for everyone to see. Most FaceBook veterans will tell you that they only put in totally fictitious information so that no one can find any private information out about them, but most people ignore this step, and want to put their whole lives out for everyone to see, so they head for the privacy options. By making a profile private, only users whom the owner deems as friends (which are either invited or approved by the subject of the page) can view their page. All other interlopers and non-friends are blocked from the site with a friendly reminder: “This is a private page, only the users friends are able to view it.”

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Two subcommittees are conducting a thorough investigation into the controversial sales technique known as behavioral advertising. This is where advertisement agencies will actually scan and scrutinize a person’s browsing habits and send them advertisements that they feel will be tailored to the person’s needs.

Today, members of these committees are beginning preliminary drafts on a bill that will likely cut down on the freedom these advertisers have to analyze people’s records, and thusly, restrict their marketing demographic.

Google, FaceBook, and Yahoo remain rooted in their opposition to any bill that would limit these advertisers.

These companies praise the work that the Federal Trade Commission has done with this technology, and wouldn’t want it to be cut down. Privacy advocates such as the Center for Digital Democracy, insist that this software is invasive and compromises people’s Privacy Rights by scanning their histories with no permission or notification.

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As soon as you open the site http://www.rsf.org, you can tell they are here to bring the news to everyone. On their main page, you can choose to have the language of the site translated to French, English, Arabic, Spanish, Persian, and Chinese. Encompassing most of the major languages of the world, RSF is a tool of communication that tears down any barriers (even technical ones: they broadcast in RSS format for users of the service) that could bar the flow of information.

RSF (as the site will be referred to from here on) is primarily a news site, dealing with any issues that are pertinent throughout the globe., but particularly focusing on ones about freedom.

The site is very easily laid out. Some news websites can be quite convoluted, with headlines all over the screen, distracting your attention this way and that, but RSF lays their website out to be easily navigable: at the top, the major news. Near the middle, news organized by country and region. At the bottom, a “barometer”, showing journalist casualties, media assistants imprisoned, among other things to allow a quick check-up on foreign affairs. Underneath this, there is a search engine that allows you to view all things pertinent to a year, view Internet threats by country, or do an overall world report. On the side, there is merchandise to buy, and other sites the site recommends. Unlike some sites, RSF doesn’t have pop-ups touting its merchandise, and it doesn’t throw itself at you begging you to buy something.

RSF stands for “Reporter Sans Frontieres”, or, as the English speaking would say, “Reporter Without Borders.” The name follows suit with their organization; they don’t shy away from sensitive news, and won’t stop reporting just because a country doesn’t like it. They believe in Internet freedom, and demonstrate this by reporting the real news and hot topics all of the time, and not leaving anything out. Here you may find articles about the killing of journalists, or even writing protesting an oppressive leader’s habits. They take no prisoners; the way news should be. They don’t sugarcoat anything, calling Iran “the world’s biggest Internet jail”. This is true, and most news companies would have trouble coming out and saying it. The site even has a “Predators” section on its main page, which brazenly point out online predators to keep tabs on.

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Recently, a law has passed in China that requires all personal computers to come pre-installed with Internet filtering software. This has forced all computer makers to load their computers up with all sorts of software that block and censor “sensitive” sites. This could be a variety of things, as “sensitive” is a very subjective word.

The state run newspaper, Liberation Daily, insists that this new addition to all computers is to shield young people from “possibly harmful influences.” All throughout the week, this new act has sparked a fair amount of controversy, and some believe it is just China, once again, finding a way to censor things they don’t want the public to see.

China has a spotted past with censoring, and riding the thin line of people’s rights. Their history of blocking sites they deem inappropriate is often referred to as “The Great Firewall of China.”

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The NSA (National Security Administration) has been in the headlines lately for its excessive snooping. Critics on Congress say that it’s previously assumed amount of surveillance was eclipsed by what actually goes on. The agency lately has sparked some controversy about its practice of monitoring domestic e-mails.

Since April, the agency has been scrutinized by the public and Congress for its privacy invading tactics, particularly concerning the aforementioned e-mail spying. This has turned out to be true, as a former N.S.A. analyst testifies that he was trained in the art, and current employees disclose that the program is still in effect.

People all over are a bit edgy about the organization’s practices. The NSA agreed that they had collected too many e-mails, but it was on accident. Privacy activists insist this is a lie, and that no one cracks down on this organization because they don’t understand how it all works.

The analyst and current employees disclose some information about the operation. It is hard to tell if someone is overseas, and therefore, can be scanned and spied on, so Congress granted the NSA a little more leeway on surveillance; if there is any suspicion, go for it.

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War and warfare are living things; always evolving. Long gone are the days of pugilist combat, replaced by sword to sword, replaced by musket to musket, replaced by AK-47 to M16, replaced by tank to tank, finally followed by wireless to wireless. That’s right; the war zones have changed and have undergone a strange metamorphosis: the e-battle.

The modern battle is not one of brute strength and the strongest guns winning out; it is one of skill and intellect: who is the most computer-savvy. Unfortunately, now that the skirmish is brought to such a public area, we might see a new rise of the Patriot Act.

President Obama was the first to reveal this new way to do battle, and our new agencies and strategies to be successful in it. He has repeatedly insisted that nobody’s privacy will be breached in this massive new undertaking. His senior officers agree, but do think that a bit of privacy compromise is inevitable.

The National Security Agency (NSA) will be at the forefront of this new battle. This scares a few though, as the NSA is notorious for having some ambiguous privacy ideas. The nation’s security is not a matter to be compromised on though, and the NSA knows that better than anyone.

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The Herald Tribune (Sarasota’s newspaper) recently reported that slightly more than 88% of 38,000 students that attend school in their district had private and personal information placed on the Internet for approximately two months.

Princeton Review was contracted by the school district to maintain the Sarasota County Planning Tools database to track student grades and help teachers develop tests.  The information contained student ID numbers, which often were Social Security Numbers. It also contained birthdates, names, test scores, disabilities, ethnicity and sex.  It was a simple matter to find this information by using a search engine.  The Princeton Review says the error occurred when they switched Internet Service Providers.

More than the students of Sarasota were affected by this snafu.  Almost 74,000 students of Fairfax, VA had their information posted on the web as well.  The company that was hired to measure the students’ performances nearly cost them their identities.  Hackers would have been dancing on the rooftops at finding all of this information on students, because it takes the average person three months to find out something is wrong.  But students don’t have a reason to check their credit ratings, so it could be years before they find out their credit is shot even before they applied for it.

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