Social media carries risks with rewards Published Oct. 11, 2011 By Airman 1st Class Heather Heiney 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Social media has quickly become a primary location for information exchange. It's also an essential tool to maintain contact with family and friends scattered around the world. In fact, there are several organizations on Keesler that use Facebook to spread important information and establish connections with members of the base community. If you are interested in joining the conversation, go to http://www.keesler.af.mil/socialmedia.asp. At the same time, it's essential to remember that engaging in social media carries with it a certain level of threat. Every time you post information to a public site, it's available for anyone to see, including those that may want to harm you or your family. However, there are many things you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from financial, physical or cyber attack. Scott Lucas, 81st Training Wing operation/contingency plans and programs chief, said, "The more information adversaries can obtain, the more opportunities they have to cause damage at your expense." The Interagency OPSEC Support Staff, www.ioss.gov, developed the following safety checklist that you can use to protect yourself while using social media. Personal information Keep sensitive, workrelated information off your profile. Keep your plans, schedulesand location data to yourself. Protect the names and information of coworkers, friends and family members. Tell friends to be careful when posting photos and information about you and your family. Posted data Check all photos for indicators in the background or reflective surfaces. Check file names and file tags for sensitive data including your name, organization or other details. Passwords Social media passwords should be unique from your other online passwords. They should be sufficiently hard to guess. They should be adequately protected and not shared or given away. Settings and privacy Carefully look and set your privacy and security options. Determine both your profile and search visibility. Sort "friends" into groups and networks, and set access permissions accordingly. Verify through other channels that a "friend" request was actually from your friend. Add acquaintances to the group with the lowest permissions and access. Security Keep anti-virus software updated. Beware of links, downloads and attachments just as you would in emails. Beware of apps or plug-ins fromunknown third parties who might use them to access your data and friends. Look for Https and the lock icon that indicate active transmission security before logging in or entering sensitive data, especially when using wireless hotspots. Lucas said that social media also brings with it the danger of being socially engineered because adversaries may exploit the human element of trust. They may pretend to be someone you know or spark up a friendship with the intention of gathering personal information. "Only through awareness can individuals make the right decisions to protect themselves, their families and our country," Lucas said. Also, like Dave Awl, author of "Facebook Me!", said, "An ounce of discretion is worth a ton of privacy settings." For more information on social media precautions, go to http://www.stratcom.mil/snstraining.