Realty World Northern California & Nevada

CNN is reporting that Facebook is increasing their efforts to combat security problems. One such security problem was Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook account was hacked into yesterday and someone posted on his wall with a statement that started with “Let the hacking begin…” Apparently this was quickly removed but not without some 1,800 “likes” and hundreds of comments were posted.

One new security feature being implemented is called “social authentication” where a picture of a friend will appear on the screen when logging in and requiring you to match a name to the face.

Facebook also stated that they may require you to verify your identity if for example, your account has been logged into in California and then from Australia, a few hours later.

Additionally, Facebook plans to implement browsing their entire site over a secure connection instead of only encrypting the username and password to login to the site. This security enhancement would prohibit someone on the same Wi-Fi network to see what you were doing on Facebook.

Starbucks is now offering free Wi-Fi for everyone for all customers in its company-owned stores in the United States and Canada as a part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing customer service. No Starbucks card required, no username or password needed, no time limits, and unlimited usage. Starbucks is working with AT&T in the U.S. and Bell in Canada as its Wi-Fi providers.

Starbucks was one of the first chains to offer Wi-Fi, using T-Mobile some years ago. Customers were allowed 2 hours of free Wi-Fi access provided with use with a Starbucks Card to login.

So much daily business is done currently within the walls of a Starbucks with a coffee in hand and to have free Wi-Fi seems fantastic. However, is it safe?

As with other public Wi-Fi networks, there are risks involved with connecting to public hotspots. To minimize your exposure you should be aware of several basic items. Following all of these items does not mean you are entirely protected against malicious attempts and personal exposure.

When you are on a public network you should turn off your file sharing and public folder sharing. In Windows it is located in the Control Panel and then Network and Sharing options. For Mac it is located under System Preferences and Sharing.

As for web surfing it isn’t a big deal (to me) to surf the web, in a general sense. However, be cautious to entering in usernames, passwords, credit card info, etc. to websites that are not encrypted. As a general “rule of thumb” you can tell by looking at the website address and if it starts with an “https” instead of “http.” However, there are sites where you enter login information on a website starting with “http” that submits securely to “https” and that is fine as well. As always, make sure you have your anti-virus and malware software up to date.