The Federal Trade Commission released a series of video tips to help you protect your personal information online. The videos are available at OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government’s site to help computer users be safe, secure and responsible.

The new video Using Public Wi-Fi Networks, explains that most public Wi-Fi hotspots don’t encrypt information you send through the network. So, if you login to an unsecured website — say a social networking site — or enter personal information in a web form, you may be sharing that information with others on the network. Hackers could use the information to hijack your accounts, or to impersonate you.

When using Wi-Fi, it’s important to know that secure hotspots require a password, and secure websites begin with “https.”

In addition, the FTC has released three other new videos available on OnGuardOnline.gov:
• Computer Security provides simple steps to help you protect yourself and your computer from scammers, hackers, and identity thieves.
• Online Shopping Tips can help you get the best deal and avoid unnecessary hassles.
• Protect Your Computer from Malware provides tips on how to avoid, detect, and get rid of viruses and spyware that get installed on your computer without your consent.

OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in the The Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign™, which is led by the Department of Homeland Security and aims to increase the understanding of cyber threats and empower the American public to be safer and more secure online. The Federal Trade Commission manages OnGuardOnline.gov in partnership with other federal agencies.

The specific URLs for the website and each subject are listed below:

www.onguardonline.gov/

www.onguardonline.gov/media/video-0080-public-wi-fi-networks

www.onguardonline.gov/media/video-0081-computer-security

www.onguardonline.gov/media/video-0082-online-shopping-tips

www.onguardonline.gov/media/video-0056-protect-your-computer-malware

For for more information about online security call Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona at (520)888-5353 or visit www.tucson.bbb.org.

Check your privacy settings on your social media accounts, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona warns. Scammers are using the personal data shared through Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to pose as your friends in personalized, fraudulent emails.

How the Scam Works:

You receive an email that appears to be from a friend or family member. The message addresses you by name, but the content is strange. Usually, it’s just a link to a website. If you click on it, you could end up downloading malware on to your computer.

Scammers find your information through your social media accounts and then exploit the fact that you’re more likely to click on a link sent by a friend. Some scammers set up fake accounts and send out friend requests to gain access to your personal information. Others rely on social media users not locking down their privacy settings, so their basic information, such as their name, email address and friends’ names, can be seen by the public.

To protect your personal information shared on social media:

• Review your security settings. Check your privacy setting on all your social media accounts to ensure you aren’t sharing personal information with strangers.
• Be cautious of accepting friend requests from unknown people. This could be a scammer’s attempt to gain access to your personal information.
• Don’t overshare. Limit what personal information you share on your social media pages and avoid posting any personal information that could potentially be used fraudulently, such as your email address, phone number and address.
• Report scam profiles or suspicious activity. Some social sites, such as Facebook, have instructions on how to report fake accounts or accounts that violate the terms of the site.
• Consider enabling login notifications. This security feature will send you an alert every time your account is accessed from a new device.
• Protect your information when using public Wi-Fi. Before using public Wi-Fi to access your Facebook account, text “otp” to 32665 to receive a temporary password to log in to your account.

If you receive a suspicious email:

• Don’t click on strange links. Even if the email came from a trusted friend or family member, do not click on any link in an email that might seem suspicious. If you have any reservations, notify the person who sent you the email to confirm what they sent and if they really sent the message.
• Check the email address of the sender. Even though a friend’s name is in the “from” field, spam email won’t always be sent from his or her email address.

Protect your computer. Keep your anti-virus software up to date. If you click on a link, be sure to run a virus scan on your computer right away

A new year signals a fresh start and time for new passwords for all of your online accounts – especially if you haven’t changed your passwords in months, years or ever. Changing your password is even more critical if your password is the word “password.”

Why? Splash Data ranked “password” as the most popular password of 2012. Rounding out the top 25: 123456, 12345678, abc123, qwerty, monkey, letmein, dragon, 111111, baseball, iloveyou, trustno1 (except your BBB of course), 1234567, sunshine, master, 123123, welcome, shadow, Ashley, football, jesus, Michael, ninja, mustang and password1.

Experts recommend changing passwords at least every six months with every three months being the gold standard. There are several reasons for this. First, passwords are often stolen without our knowledge and second, stolen passwords often aren’t used immediately. Instead, they’re collected, sold to organized crime, rebundled and resold, and often left untouched for long periods of time. Even if you’re not aware your password was stolen, if you’re in the habit of changing it periodically, there’s a good chance you will have changed it before a thief has an opportunity to use it.

At Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona, for example, our computers and some of the programs we use remind every user to change his/her password at a designated time frame. At home? Well, my guess is many of us have been using the same passwords for a long time – but no one’s willing to fess up.

Changing your password is not difficult. Neither is changing your weak password (12345) into a strong password (12AbF34#%). I’m not a fan of passwords that don’t resonate with me, such as the one I just mentioned that mixes numerals, upper and lowercase letters and symbols in a hodgepodge fashion. Who remembers those? Certainly not me.

A common suggestion is to take a sentence or phrase that you know well. For example, I’m a big fan of Arnold Lobel’s “Frog and Toad” series of children’s books. Let’s say I chose this sentence: “Frog and Toad agreed: it was a perfect day for a swim.” I would take the first letter of each word and I get FaTa:iwapdfas. Need to throw in a numeral? Pick your favorite and insert it where it makes sense for you.

Do you need to have a separate password for all of your online accounts? Opinions differ. Some experts say if you have one strong password – seven or eight  characters with a mix of letters, numerals and symbols – it should be good enough. Others say that’s foolhardy and that you should have different passwords for all of your accounts. I’m thinking the real answer is somewhere in the middle.

We should listen, however, when the experts tell us not to write them down – not even in our own homes – for fear that they’ll be stolen. Why? It’s an unfortunate fact that identity theft is often done by someone we know, often family members, friends or employees.

If you can’t write them down what should you do? Make your passwords strong – but make them memorable.