Will you continue to use Facebook after the recent news?

[jeffscott]

It was a big issue on Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg was already interviewed but what's the latest from the said controversy?

[mavericbird]

I am sure that I'm deleting my FB account as I cannot trust the company anymore. For my business presence I use inLinx, Twitter, and Instagram.

[turboguy]

For me there are two issues involved. One is business data and one is personal data. There is nothing in my business data that I care who could access. I have my business data posted so many places there in nothing in there that they could not get elsewhere even on my own web sites. As far as personal data I didn't share anything that would concern me and may have altered the few things that could be harmful. So it is no issue for me.

As far as am I continuing to use it. My Facebook business page works for me. I connect with a lot of people and generate a lot of new leads. Some other sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter don't work for me. Shutting down my business page because I was concerned about someone finding our phone number would be like cutting off my nose to spite my face. As far as my personal page I have connected with a lot of long lost good friends from my childhood and that has been a real plus. I virtually never post on my page anyway. I think there are so many ways people with sinister intent can cause damage Facebook is just one and not one I worry about. I get more concerned with someone hacking credit reporting sites as happened not long ago. That is something to worry about.

[Harold Mansfield]

For people like us that is the issue. Business vs. Personal. Especially if you're like me and use your real name as your business name.
Some of you may recall how I used to always beat the drum about separating your online personal life from your online business life and to NEVER combine them.

To not use your personal phone number for business.
To not use your personal social media profiles for business.
To have you own business email address.
A different business address.
And so on.

If you've never lived by those rules of separation whatever info is out there about you is probably a complete profile of your entire life, business and personal contacts and all of your actual contact information and it's all melded together.

Hackers come and go, every breech or misuse isn't the same, and they aren't all working together. Just because we've all had our information stolen or used nefariously at this point (and at this point we all have), doesn't mean that it's too late to start protecting yourself and cleaning up your digital life

Most criminal "hacks" are in 5 basic categories:

1. Theft/Identity theft
2. Ransom/Extortion
3. Hijacking your computer or device to be used later in another attack against someone else or the infrastructure as a whole.
4. Spying/Stalkers
5. Corporate/Government espionage.

And of course there's people who just look for easy targets for the challenge of it.

At this point on social media I've connected with anyone I'm going to connect with. Although Facebook and it's advertisers has been tracking me all over the internet for years, they do now allow you to delete the information they've accumulated about you. Do it.

The easiest way to social engineer someone is by their social media profiles. Anything you need to know about a target is usually there ( or can be deduced) from where they live, what they do on the weekend, to what school their kids go to.

If you're concerned start removing all of the crap that tells on you, your family, your favorite movies, where you've lived, your birthdate, anniversary, who you're related to, where you've worked, tagged in location based images, tagged on other people's profiles, and so on.

Set your privacy so that only people you are "friends" with can see your profile.
I took Facebook off of my phones months ago. I can deal with the tracking from my desktop. But the tracking of my location, contacts and communications is too much. I will never trust that or any social app on my phones ever again. It's also a huge battery hog.

Remember that what you post goes to everyone you know, and it's doubtful any of them practice good security habits. They can be the access point for a hacker to breach all of their friends..and usually are.

The name of the game is "Don't be an easy target".

You will never be able to stop a determined state hacker or someone who is targeting you specifically without help. But hopefully if you are the kind of public person...company officer, government, military personnel, police officer, actress, journalist, and so on....your organization has assisted with your training and security.