social media Archives - Page 3 of 5

June 28, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

What parents REALLY need to know about social media

There is so much information online for parents these days it is hard to know where to turn, it can be pretty confusing, and time consuming trying to cover it all. So many ebooks and articles and blogs on safety and apps and etiquette (we here at iRespectOnline have written many of them!).

Last year (2012), after seeing the career aspirations of one young teen smashed due to inappropriate photographs being posted online and found by a prospective employer, I knew I had to write a book to really EMPOWER parents with knowledge and to help them to understand the importance of guiding their children from the earliest ages possible. It took me just over a year to write as my father had a stroke just before I was due to finish it, but I am so pleased that it is now available and is being very well received.

Futureproof your Kids© encompasses my passion for not only educating parents in understanding the online world but of empowering our children to be the SUPERKIDS of the future online. Children who grow up respecting integrity and high values.

I never set out to write “another” guide book on privacy settings and the like as social media platforms change so often. Through collaborative efforts, I already have wonderful series of helpful tip sheets produced with my lovely colleague Mel Rom at Social Ediquette™ in Perth, WA. (We update these often to keep them on track with the latest changes).

Instead I have a produced a book from the heart, designed to help readers to really think and consider what our online interactions mean for ourselves and others, both now and in the future. The book is designed to assist parents with the issues they are really struggling with – where to begin, how to help their children, and to understand the benefits as well as be aware of safety and issues such as cyberbullying. Beyond that, this book introduces my 4 Step Reputation Framework© which I am so excited about.

This framework encompasses a set of ethics and values which our children can use throughout their lives. Introducing the values via 4 cute characters (created by my amazing illustrator Deb Parker) we meet Ruby Respect, Robert Responsibility, Rosie Resilience and Ronnie Research. These characters form an integral part of the content of my education workshops for parents and schools.

Further “superkid” superhero characters are introduced as we progress through the workshops. The values are valuable for adults to embrace also, as it is from parents and other adults that our children tend to model their early behaviours on. We need to keep checking our own “reflection” in the social media mirror!

IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY OR TOO LATE TO START LEARNING ABOUT THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT. Whether your child is under 2 or 16 we should not allow a digital divide to develop between our children and ourselves when it comes to understanding the online environment. You need to be there, to help guide your children through the social media “playground” . Grandparents, Aunty’s, Uncle’s and neighbours too, should all understand the environment so you can work together to create a consistent approach to the use of social media where your children are concerned.

It’s not just parents and children who can benefit from my framework, I also have a “grown up” workshop version of the 4R’s Reputation Framework© for businesses who wish to embrace a more ethical, transparent and connected approach to the way they engage online with their clients, customers and prospects.

I look forward to sharing future posts with you that explore the contents of the book and perhaps engaging with you at a workshop at your school or community group soon!

Respectfully

Fiona Lucas

Author

Futureproof your kids© is currently available to Australian parents in paperback form from our website and at www.futureproofyourkids.com. Kindle/electronic formats of the book are currently under development and will be available globally in the near future. We encourage purchasing the hard copy so it can be shared around your family and always nearby for reference :-).

Enquiries for international and/or bulk orders should be made directly to the author via the contact form:

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iRespectOnline®

Your social media mirror. Have you checked your reflection lately?

May 25, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

Staying Smart Online – apps and online payments

In today’s blog we look at cyber security week tips number 5 and 6:

Tip 5 : Take care when buying online – research the supplier and use a safe payment method

We literally have the world at our fingertips when it comes to buying online, so never before has the saying “buyer beware” been more important. It is possible to set up an online shop in just a few minutes these days, so you might find that there are many websites which are not the real deal, but are scams designed to separate you and your hard earned money.

The reasons why we shop online are numerous: to save money, to save time because we can shop any time of the day or night, because we can compare goods or to find items that are hard to get, or not sold locally. We can shop for travel, for toys, for better interest rates, for loans, for health products. The list goes on and on.

In this blog I will hopefully be able to outline some of the issues you should be wary of when shopping online, so that you are able to make better choices. The absolute top tip I can give you is to RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. Often if something sounds too good to be true – there will be a catch or a problem with quality or even actually ever seeing the goods arrive. Make sure you follow the earlier tips and keep virus software and operating systems up to date before you start buying online.

General Shopping:

What can go wrong: Fraud through making payments through unsecured sites; The site may be fake, the goods or services you order online may not live up to the advertisement, goods may never arrive.

How to stay safe: Shop via recommendations – word of mouth is still a great way to rely on the quality of a retailer. If the retailer is not a known name, research on the web looking for information. Do they have a listed address, email and telephone numbers?

Using a credit card is safer than any other type of payment as credit cards have some protection against fraud, misuse and non delivery of goods.

Don’t put money directly into another person’s account when purchasing online, but use a secure site such as Paypal.

Check out the returns and refunds policy before you buy.

Make sure the website you are purchasing from is secure. A padlock should appear in the actual browser window (not just on the website) and the address should be https:// not http:// (the s means ‘secure’).

Log out of shopping sites, don’t just close the browser window.

Travel & Accomodation: Beware of being ripped off by fake travel and accommodation sites and fake holiday prize scams.

What can go wrong? Worst case scenario is that you arrive at your destination to find your accomodation doesn’t exist, or there is no record of your flights. Other issues can be that accommodation is not the standard advertised or there are many hidden fees which were not obvious when booking was made. Beware of offers and deals that require a deposit to be paid to secure, you may never see that money (or the accomodation) again.

Staying safe: As we have mentioned with shopping, ensure any sites are secure and show a padlock in the brower window. Do not forget – the R word is so important. RESEARCH. Check out the site, are they reputable? Does the company belong to a recognised travel authority? Read the small print. Check and recheck dates and times, airports etc BEFORE you pay. Keep copies of all documents. If you are going to rent a private apartment, make sure that you speak with the owner – be sure that the apartment is actually available for rental and is not fraudently listed – do make background checks.

Auction Sites: Sites which allow you to buy and sell goods such as eBay are very popular, particularly with the youth market.

What can go wrong: Fake sites, products delivered are not what was promised, no returns or difficulty in returning or obtaining refunds for faulty products, products themselves are copies, your profile or financial information may be stolen, if you are the seller, make sure you have received money before despatching and preferrably use registered mail so that you can confirm delivery. Scam emails often appear to come from valid sites. Never use a link in an email to change a password or provide personal information. If you do get such an email and think it is real, simply go to your actual account and change password there.

Staying safe: Don’t share your account or password with friends. Double check what you are ordering before finalising the purchase. Check the buyer or seller reputation, look for feedback (although beware that sometimes feedback can be fake as well). Ignore requests to close auctions early. Follow suggestions under shopping also.

Health & Medicinal Products: The area of health is probably one of the fastest growing online and because of the nature of health, it is an area particularly prone to ripoffs and false claims.

What can go wrong? Ingredients may be substandard or not to Australian standards; ingredients may actually be quite dangerous with uncontrolled quantities or use of substances that are banned or are poisonous (such as rat poison and borax). Ingredients listed may or may not be present. Some products may be a risk to health and life. Promises of “cures” which prey on the vulnerable but are false. Claims made may be completely inaccurate. No control over where ingredients are actually being sourced or under what types of controls or hygiene/safety. Often websites selling items such as weight loss pills will fraudently continue to charge a credit card on a regular basis, for small amounts which may go unnoticed for a time. Sites are often not secure.

Staying safe: Exercise extreme caution. Again do your research. Health products appeal to our desire to feel better, look better and cure ourselves of problems, and often these emotions stop us from thinking and analysing what we are buying. Be wary of claims of “cures” and “instant results”. Check with your doctor or pharmacist to ensure that supplements you have purchased online do not interfer with any medications you are currently on. Check that the seller is a legitimate business, with contact numbers and ABN . Never try and diagnose yourself and do not allow others to attempt to diagnose a problem if they are not a registered health practioner. If you do purchase medications or supplements online and you feel ill or have any symptoms which start occuring whilst taking them, see your doctor immediately and take the product with you so that the ingredients can be checked. If ingredients are NOT listed on the container, they are not meeting Australian requirements and may pose a significant risk to your health.

Tip 6 Only download “apps” from reputable publishers and read all permission requests

This is one area I’ve blogged about a few times now and also cover in my book “Futureproof your kids”. It is very important area to consider.

What can go wrong: Viruses or malware may be loaded onto your device during upgrades or transfer of data. Identity theft through programs which are working in the background. Hidden costs from “offers to upgrade” and add ons . Mobile device battery life decreases, unsolicted text messages which have a charge linked to them. A virus may sit on the device and transfer to your computer when you connect them to sync.

Staying safe: Only download and purchase apps from known stores. Be very wary of android apps as these are more susceptible to virus and malware. Keep your mobile device operating system up to date.

Fiona Lucas

www.fionalucas.com.au

iRespectOnline and Social Ediquette have joined forces to create some great handy tip sheets. You can download these free sheets from our website under Resources.

May 21, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

Staying Smart Online – Passwords & Links Cyber Security Week 2013

Folllowing on from yesterday’s post, today we will look at Tip no 3 & 4 from the Stay Smart Online Cyber Security Week tips.

Tip 3: Use Strong Passwords and different Passwords for different uses

We live in a world full of passwords and pin numbers and it can get hard to remember them all. It is really important however that you do regularly change passwords for your email accounts and other online programs. Although it can feel like an inconvenience and a bit of a pain to do, it really does help protect your accounts from spammers and hackers.

If you use the same password for your accounts and it gets picked up by a hacker then you have really given over control of all your information.

Using a strong password and changing it regularly is the best protection you can give yourself.

Make sure you keep up to date with security alerts (you can sign up to the stay smart online alert service here)

Your security can be jeopardised because a business you subscribe too gets hacked. Just recenting LivingSocial.com was hacked and 50 million passwords belonging to members were breached. This of course means that the names and email addresses matching the passwords were also breached. If you have an account with Living social ( who supply coupon /daily deals ) then you should immediately change your password.

Tips for passwords:

1. Make sure you use a combination of letters, numbers and punctuation marks ie art@23$% to make your password harder to crack.

2. Don’t use your street address, pet names or date of birth in your password as they can be easier to crack.

3. You can use a base name to make it easier, but change around it and modify it so it is not a word from the dictionary. Changing and L to a 1 for example . For example FLY could be used as 345F1Y##! or &#F1Y289 etc.

4. Don’t forget to change passwords on computers, email, bank accounts, subscriptions to online services and your modem.

5. Keep details of passwords secure. It is not adviseable to have a document called “passwords” on your computer for instance. Keep the details separate and secure. If you have a lot of passwords you might consider purchasing one of the great password tools available for this purpose. roboform, 1password, lastpass are examples of such online tools. These tools store and generate passwords for you. (*these are purely examples and I cannot vouch for any of them, please do your own research into using any of these tools).

You can find lots more safety tips here.

Tip 4: Stop and think before you click on attachments

There is a real risk of infecting your computer or compromising your information through clicking on attachments which contain malware . There are many “phishing” sites which mimic a real website or email but ask you to enter your logon details. Legitimate companies will never ask you to provide your details through an email. Clicking on pictures which promise “click and share and you will be amazed at what happens..” well they are just to get you sharing information which may well actually be grabbing details from your contact lists and setting up to spam all your friends. A static photo will never “do something” so just delete these types of pictures.

If you get an email from someone you don’t know, particularly without a subject then be wary about opening it. Likewise if you get one from an email address you do know, but the subject seems strange or the topic is not what you would expect, then do not open as your contacts may have been breached and although it is not a true hack, the spammers modify their address so it appears to come from someone you know.

Emails stating you have won a huge sum or have a large inheritance are almost always spam and you can often tell by the email addresses attached to them that they are not legitimate.

Delete spam email without opening or previewing the content.

I hope you are staying smart online and enjoying the cyber security week tips!

more tomorrow!

Fiona Lucas
iRespectOnline ( a 2013 Stay Smart Online awareness week partner)

www.fionalucas.com.au

May 19, 2013 By Fiona Lucas

It’s Cyber Security Awareness Week 20-24 May 2013 – stay smart online!

Welcome to National Cyber Security Awareness Week, an Australia government initiative.

iRespectOnline is proud to be one of the 1400 partners helping to spread the message to be safe online. This is our second year and this year we are helping spread the message by joining in with local primary schools to share information and displays.

So what is Cyber Security Awareness Week about? Quite simply its about ensuring that the personal and financial information that you enter online is kept safe and secure.

Most people who use the internet would subscribe to various newsletters and websites, and many use internet banking to pay their bills and transfer funds between accounts. Online shopping is extremely popular with some people preferring it over shopping instore. The popularity of online market places such as eBay and Etsy where goods are brought and sold between buyers and sellers is another area where your information is being sent over the internet. It’s important that you are aware of the possible risks and make more informed choices about where and how you transact online.

However it is not just when shopping or browsing the web that you may give up information. Whenever you add an “app” either to a mobile device or on a social media platform such as facebook, you are sharing that information with the creators of the app.

Here are the Top 10 tips from the government’s Stay Smart Online site. We encourage everyone to remember these ten simple tips to improve your online security:

Install and update your security software and set it to scan regularly
Turn on automatic updates on all your software, particularly your operating system and applications
Use strong passwords and different passwords for different uses
Stop and think before you click on links and attachments
Take care when buying online – research the supplier and use a safe payment method
Only download “apps” from reputable publishers and read all permission requests
Regularly check your privacy settings on social networking sites
Stop and think before you post any photos or financial information online
Talk with your child about staying safe online, including on their smart phone or mobile device
Report or talk to someone if you feel uncomfortable or threatened online – download the Government’s Cybersafety Help Button

During this week we will be discussing each of these tips and other relevant cyber security information. You are most welcome to ask questions and comment on the materials. You can also engage with us on our facebook page and visit the Stay Smart Online site here where you can search for events that are on near you! Stay Smart Online also has a facebook page where you can engage.

So let’s look at tips no 1 & 2: Install and update your security software and set it to scan regularly & Turn on automatic updates on all your software, particularly your operating system and applications.

It’s really imporant that you do manage your security software and don’t just leave it until you get a problem, set it to receive automatic updates, then program it to scan your computer during the night. What’s that you say? You have an Apple computer and you never get a virus? Well although Apple operating system is very robust, their are still regular updates sent out which are to ensure that programs are kept secure. You can check out the latest information on Apple Security here. Windows users MUST add a third party security system to their computers and laptops as unfortunately those who create viruses and malware are experts at breaching any built in features. Windows 8 is a move towards better security as all apps must be produced by a legitimate developer, but it still has teething problems.

Many systems come with a security package installed which may expire after a set period and require you to pay a fee to continue. Please check that you have some form of security on your computer. You can download free security programs on the web although it is not recommended. If you do HOWEVER, be careful! Sites where you can download security programs are often hosted on pages where there are lots of confusing and flashing advertising which sounds like something you need, but may in fact be malware. Purchasing reputable security software directly from the distributor or a reputable store is a much safer option.

You can also subscribe to the Stay Smart Online Alert service to keep up to date on the latest email scams and other threats (click on the logo to register).

Don’t forget your mobile devices either. Make sure you keep all applications and your operating systems up to date. The biggest emerging security risk appears to be on Android platform phones and tablets. I believe it is possible to buy security for Android phones but at this stage I do not have enough information to make any recommendations. With the massive growth of Android based smartphones, I would expect that these issues will start to show. It is vital that if on the Android system you only purchase from reputable stores such as Google play. I would ask android owners however to be wary even soas recent studies showed that many apps do carry malware which can then attack your pc Use your common sense and stick to apps from known developers and be wary of free apps. We will cover this more when we reach tip 6!

Once again enjoy National Cyber Security Week and Stay Smart Online!

Fiona Lucas

iRespectOnline is the brainchild of Fiona Lucas , Author of the new book “Futurepoof your kids” available here.