By Chip Reaves, global director of Computer Troubleshooters
Facebook isn’t just a place to hook up with ex-girlfriends from high school anymore. Companies large and small are now using it for networking and legitimate business tasks. Unfortunately, it can also be a place to hook your company’s network up with some nasty viruses that can riddle your network with malware and spyware and can steal sensitive data right from your workstations’ hard drives.
The following are tips to protect your office network:
· Get anti-virus, anti-spyware support.
First and foremost, every computer user on the Internet needs professional, up-to-date protection software. This should at a minimum include both anti-virus and anti-spyware support (some free packages do not include anti-spyware), and ideally should also include a link scanner component to minimize the risk of visiting web sites which are known to be infected.
· Claim your name, check your fame.
If you are using social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, do periodic searches for yourself. This is especially helpful with small businesses to see what people are saying about you, but if you’re infected you may find updates from yourself — which you never sent.
· Use a 3rd party Twitter application or your phone.
Third party applications such as Tweekdeck or Twhirl can help block certain exploits that would otherwise infect you from the Twitter web site. They can also help by showing where a “shortened” URL will take you before you click. Using your cell phone for updates is also safer than using the Twitter or Facebook web sites directly.
· Secure your browser.
Make sure your web browser is the most up-to-date version, since many vulnerabilities in older browsers (even ones from just a few months ago) are often used by malware creators to infect your computer. Chrome and Firefox are generally considered safer than Internet Explorer, but any browser with its security setting set to “High” and with the most recent updates should be fine. For the highest level of security, consider using Firefox plus Noscript.net to block most potential points of vulnerability.
· Ask to include social media protection in your IT management plan.
Many small businesses and home users today are outsourcing all their computer management to a local computer service provider through what’s called a Managed Services plan. Ask your local Computer Troubleshooter or other service provider to include social media protection in your computer management plan. HBM
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