For the last few weeks I’ve been working in the Corporate team and boy have they kept me busy! One of the major things that has occupied my time has been Get Safe Online . Get Safe Online is a not for profit, government backed internet safety campaign, and this week is Get Safe Online Awareness Week! In fact, this particular project has been something that all the grads who have passed through Corporate have worked on, but luckily for me I’m here right in the thick of it! So I thought in honour of Get Safe Online Week I would share a few hints, tips and facts about online security!

The internet – What would we do without it?! We use it all day at work and then as soon as we get home the first thing we do is turn the computer on so that we can check Facebook. Also thrown into the mix is internet banking, online shopping, Ebay browsing (and the inevitable buying when you see that thing that you really don’t need for such a good price) etc etc. What I’m trying to get at is that we use the internet in so many ways, and often have so many of our personal details on the internet, it’s important to that we remember that there are people out there who could take advantage of this. The results of the study published by Get Safe Online this week show that one third of all internet users are registered to a social networking site. This is not hard to imagine – I bet not many people reading this know people who aren’t members of one of these sites – Facebook and MySpace undoubtedly the most popular in the UK. Now please don’t get me wrong, I am not about to tell you to immediately block all of these sites because you’re putting yourself at risk blah blah blah. We’ve all heard it before! I used to hear it from my Dad – before he joined Facebook

What I am going to say is that you really shouldn’t put information on Facebook (or any of these sites) that you wouldn’t tell the person standing next you at the bus stop. Did you know 34% of 18 – 24 year olds have posted confidential or personal information on their online profile? Why should the whole virtual world know your address, phone number or e-mail address?? Would you ever shout them out to the entire crowded tube carriage in the morning rush-hour? I think a big fat NO is probably the answer! And why is the answer no? Because you don’t know them from Adam – they’re complete strangers!

Facebook does have the necessary settings to ensure that your details are safe – my advice to you is to use them! That especially goes out to people in the Midlands and the North West where about one in five of you do not set your privacy settings at all! I don’t want to scare you but all a hacker would need to steal your identity is your name, date of birth and where you live – put your hand up if these details are readily available on your profile page. I would sheepishly have to admit that up until last week I had this information available on my page – although I am careful that only my friends can see my profile, and I only accept people as friends if I actually know them! Now it’s not all bad – nearly 90% of 18 – 25 year olds DO use their privacy settings, so give yourself a pat on the back if you’re one of them! Have a look here for more information from the good people at Get Safe Online.

Another thing that came out of the Get Safe Online research was that almost one in four use the same password for all websites. Let’s think about this logically for a second – that’s like having one key for all your doors – imagine if you lost it and someone made a copy. Talk about keeping all your eggs in one basket – automatically your house, car and possibly work are all at risk. Now imagine that the same key also unlocked all of your bank information, credit card details and personal e-mails!! No matter how carefully you looked after that key there is no way that you could 100% guarantee that you wouldn’t lose it. Me personally, I don’t even keep my car key and house keys on the same key ring just in case I lose it. “Ok, we get it”- I hear you say. Good – so use more than one password, but the next piece of advice is to make them interesting. The Get Safe Online research shows that 13% of you will use the name of a family member or partner as a password (girls – you’re twice more likely to do this than the guys). This is not a very sensible idea – hands up if you have your relationship status and partner’s name listed on Facebook! Or if the ‘how we know each other’ section says ‘so-and-so is my sister’? To someone who really wanted to crack your passwords, these details wouldn’t be very difficult to find. Have a look at this for more information on creating a strong password.

One final word for you Geordies out there – 50% of you have used a social networking site to search for an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend – this is by far the highest in the whole country! Whilst we’ve all done a bit of Facebook stalking, I’m pretty sure that this is probably not the greatest of ideas!

Finally, just a mention that the 2008 Edelman grad scheme is now open for applications!

Be Safe!