I am sure you have read about the latest breach – this time, hitting Facebook. Facebook confirmed that the access codes for 50 million accounts were compromised. Facebook is still investigating the impact of the breach, and has not yet reported whether any personal information was gathered or misused from those accounts.
For those of you that use Facebook, err on the side of caution and assume your information was compromised. If you have not already done so, change your login credentials for your Facebook account. If you use the same credentials for other accounts (which you should not do), then those account credentials should be changed, too. If you link your Facebook account to other social media accounts, you should check those accounts and change the credentials on those accounts, too.
I noted in a prior post that birthdays should not be posted on LinkedIn. Similarly, such personally identifiable data points should not be posted on your Facebook or other social media accounts.
While Facebook may be a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family, living out loud online puts you at risk.
Do not feel compelled to share future plans for travel, or other personal data/information, on social media. Be smart and be safe!