Faced with Forcebook

26.07.2012
The security continuum dictates that we trade convenience for security. Leaving your front door unlocked means you never need to worry about forgetting your keys, but do you want to abandon that level of security? Of course you don't.

Choosing to lock our front door is a habit--one of the tradeoffs we make for security. We use a passcode on our mobile phones for enhanced security. We guard our private details (credit card details, passwords, HKID number) for enhanced security.

But security is inconvenient. Who can remember all their passwords? There are apps and software that will encrypt and manage multiple-passwords, but many simply use the same password for multiple Web sites, creating a single-point-of-failure cyber-thieves love. Yes, it's convenient, but you've traded security for convenience: if a hacker breaks your password on one site, well, what other accounts do you have?

As online-gathering spots become more centralized, Netizens are increasingly easier to target. With Facebook now more common than bottled water, organizations are beginning to use it as a quick-and-dirty way to create an online presence. Hey, everyone's on Facebook, right?

Check a poster for an event or a sign in a shopfront and you may see a Facebook-owned URL as their "Web site." There's perceived value to crawling under the FB umbrella: create a group and the grid of friend-icons grows like bacteria in a Petri dish.

But take a moment to think things through. Fine, you get "free" service and tap into an existing network. But before you start posting everything on Facebook, read this ():