Social networking sites are growing in popularity at an exponential rate. They have become a common occurrence in our daily lives — among all generations. For example, Facebook with over 1 billion active users is now the biggest social media website amongst other giants such as Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest and the list goes on. While they are a great way to stay in touch with old friends, find new friends, keep family up-to-date, post pictures, and so on; they are also now very popular places for people who have bad intentions.

Just think about what your account may contain — email address, home address, date of birth, pictures — the list goes on. That's valuable information to cyber criminals and scammers. Facebook and Twitter’s global surge in popularity has encouraged spammers and other online criminals to take advantage of the tiny URL links used within Twitter to target unsuspecting users. New Facebook scams seem to make emerge on a daily basis.

So what can you do to stay safe one these kinds of sites? Here is our top 10 list of the ways you can restore or maintain your privacy on social networking sites.

1.    Check your privacy settings

Make sure you know what information is being shared publicly — and what information can be accessed by applications. You may be sharing more than you intended. Keep in mind that without taking the precaution of adjusting your privacy settings, when you visit partner sites, they may able to obtain information from your Facebook account, including your name, profile photo and your interests. For more information on Facebook settings, please visit Data Use Policy 

2.    Create strong passwords

Create complex passwords that are at least 10 characters long by mixing letters, symbols and numbers (don't just use words that can be found in a dictionary). You'll also want to avoid reusing the same passwords for different sites — if the password is breached or cracked, the cyber criminal would then have access to all of your accounts. If you are using a public computer, make sure it doesn't store your email address and password. It's easy to accidently choose 'remember me', so don't forget to look over the privacy settings on your browser. 

3.    Think twice about who you add, follow, or connect with

It's a good rule of thumb is to only connect and share with people that you know in real life. By 'friending' people online that are strangers, you open yourself up to added privacy and security risks. According to a study from Cloudmark, nearly 40 percent of new Facebook profiles are fake, created by malware writers and spammers.

4.    Think before you post Always remember, once shared online, your information is no longer private.

Personal information like date of birth, home address, and email address can be used for a variety of scams and even identity theft. And just think how valuable it would be for the bad guys to get a hold of your dates and details of trips, vacations and time spent away from home.

5.    Be careful what you click Never, ever click on suspicious links, even if they look enticing.

A lot of scams and malware in the social network world is spread through links and rogue applications. You may have seen recent posts such as "I just got the Dislike button, so now I can dislike all of your dumb posts lol!!" or "Student attacked his teacher and nearly killed him" with a link attached to it. Take caution when clicking on links — even if it comes from a friend. Many of these applications are given access to post items — without you knowing — when you install them.

6.    Limit your use of applications and extras (like games and quizzes) Software applications that are available for download to run on the site may not undergo any type of security approval, verification, or review. These applications can potentially be leveraged by cyber thieves to compromise your information. What's more, you may be handing over private information in your profile to the applications developers when you install the new app, even if you use privacy settings.

7.    Monitor your kids

Networking sites can potentially open up children and young adults to many unfavorable aspects of the Internet — including bullying, online predators, and cyber scams. Make sure to prepare kids with information that can help them to make safe decisions, and to have an open dialogue about safe and appropriate web use.

8.    Take action if you see suspicious activity

There are several ways to report potential spam or scams. Check your social network of choice for more details. If you think your account may have been compromised, immediately change your password. If status updates are appearing on your Facebook page that you didn't make, you may have a rogue application. Remove the suspicious application from your Facebook profile as well as the related message from your status, News Feed, and your Likes and Interests in the "Edit my Profile" menu.

9.    Keep up with the latest scams and social engineering trends

This is easier said than done, but a little caution and awareness can go a long way in making sure you don't fall for online ploys, which are becoming increasingly targeted and believable. Here at Lavasoft, we have a number of resources available for you to turn to in order to make the process quicker and easier: read easy-to-understand safety tips in the Lavasoft Security Center, check the Lavasoft company blog and Malware Labs blog for your daily dose of security news, and follow Lavasoft on Facebook or Twitter to stay up-to-date on online issues.

10.    Have basic security software in place and keep it up-to-date

Protecting your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall (and making sure the software is always up-to-date) is critical in keeping safe from malware and online scams. For trusted security solutions from Lavasoft, check the Lavasoft website at www.lavasoft.com. Also make sure that your computer is up-to-date with the latest security patches.