Can Social Media Upstage Your Home Security?

Social media has changed the way we connect with friends and family, search for new jobs and the way businesses market their services and products today. While social media has invaded almost every aspect of our lives, it has upped the security risks too.

It can expose you to a world of stalkers, bullies and burglars. Sharing your personal and professional information can even get your personal identity stolen. Not only that, a criminal can even remotely hack your computer and social media profile. If you are not careful about who you add or allow to look at your social media activities, it can attract wrong people. Could it compromise your home security too? Seems it can.

Though it may look like a picture of gloom and doom, but the reality is social media do carry significant risks for your security, if you are not careful enough. And it is not about getting intimidated but paying attention to what all you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from these dangers. But first, what exactly puts you at risk. Let’s find out.

Don’t announce your travel plans & put constant updates

“Up for a sunny break in Florida”. “Away for a glorious sunny weekend”. what happens when you tell whole world where you are, what you are up to and for how long you are going to be away? It is nothing short of extending a literal invitation to burglars, who love the fact that no one home. Worse yet, it takes only a few minutes for a seasoned burglar to break into your home and steal stuff. So, announcing a simple plan for a night can go awry.

Constantly changing your status updates is trendy. However, be wary of putting constant status updates, especially the ‘check in’ feature. Most platforms are equipped with geotagging feature. While the very idea of tagging your location is being more social and personal, but it comes at a high cost; cost of your home security.

You may not believe it but when you post photos and videos tagged with location and time, online criminals with right tools can trace your location. Your posts leave a digital footprint and experts in cybercrime know exactly what they need to do next. They can use this information, relate it with other pieces of seemingly harmless info out there to either plan out a burglary or to stalk you.

Don’t upload pictures of your home or recent purchases

If you are in the habit of posting pictures of every single purchase, big or small, you could be at great risk. This signals that your home contains expensive valuables. And this is certainly something you wouldn’t want burglars to know.

What else can you to be safe online?

• Set your privacy control to maximum. Allow only your family, friends and known people you trust to view your posts, including photos, media and other updates.
• Disable your geotagging and check-in feature in your phone settings.
• Accept friend requests from people you trust. Ignore requests from strangers.
• Some other information that you must never share includes: your bank account details, your address, mother’s maiden name, your children’s name and their school. be extremely selective about sharing your kid’s pictures.