October is Internet Safety Month

October is Internet Safety Month and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office is reminding citizens of tips to be safe online:

Take a few moments this month to clean up your online profiles and talk with your family members young and old about staying safe online.

Sign the Family Online Safety Contract, which is designed to help parents have a conversation with their kids about staying safe online. It is available in English and Spanish.

Take the 2013 Cyber Security Pledge and explore the resources and guides from the Center for Internet Security.

Visit the AARP Social Media Training Center for tips and information written for seniors who want to learn more about technology.

Learn how to protect your personal information onlineand what to do if you experience cybercrime.

Safety Tips

Before you tweet, email or post, consider these safety tips:

• Don’t list your home address, telephone numbers or other details that could compromise your identity or safety.
• Be careful when sharing plans on social media. If you are going on vacation, don’t give potential burglars advance notice that you will be out of town.
• Ignore email, text or pop-up messages that ask for sensitive information, just like you would ignore unsolicited mail or phone calls with offers that seem too good to be true or request personal information.
• Don’t use obvious passwords like your birthdates, Social Security number, phone number or mother’s maiden name. Try not to use the same password for every account and change them regularly.
• Don’t let texting or tweeting make you vulnerable to theft or an accident. Pay attention to your surroundings, especially when using public transportation or in a crowded area.    
• What you put online should be considered public and permanent. Don’t post information you don’t want family members, your boss, the police or prosecutors seeing.  You would be surprised at how savvy cops, and parents, can be.

More tips: http://hennepinattorney.org/internetsafety.aspx