Here on CollegeCandy we spend a lot of time warning you ladies about keeping your Facebook private. Change your settings. Change them again. Now change them back.  We try to keep up with Zuckerberg and the boys, but even we didn’t think of this one, and trust me, you didn’t either.

Because apparently that creeper sitting next to you in Calc class might still be able to get all of your Facebook information if you’re using a wireless network to access the internet. Which, on a college campus, or in an internet cafe, or you know, anywhere, you probably are.

Websites like Gmail use “encrypted HTTPS protocol” to prevent this from happening. They secure all of your information by encrypting your login cookies and the rest of your data. But Facebook? Not so much. So even though that random older dude staring at you from behind his laptop in Starbucks can’t read that e-mail you’re sending your professor, he might still be able to see that Facebook message you’re  sending your boyfriend. According to Gawker.com, one blogger sat down at a local Starbucks and was able to steal 20-40 Facebook identities in 30 minutes with the help of a program called Firesheep. The inventor claims to have created the software to encourage companies like Facebook to lock down their systems, and apparently Facebook is finally listening.

[editors note: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) allows all of the data that you send over the internet to be encrypted. If an unwanted guest (we'll use the word Hacker), decides that he/she wants to "sniff traffic," or collect all of the information that goes back and forth between peoples laptops at a Starbucks, means that every single laptop in that Starbucks that isn't over a secure connection, is vulnerable to having their data collected (user names, passwords, credit card information, cookies, etc). While this is a scary thought, keep in mind that you can protect yourself by logging into websites that utilize SSL (that extra 's' that you'll see after 'http' which online banks most always use by default).]

Their secure browsing program is launching today, and it will apparently take “a few weeks” to get to everyone. But you should check every day until you have this option and then enable it immediately.

Here’s what you need to do: Read More »

I’d like to think most college women are smart enough not to wire money to those Nigerian princes promising us millions of dollars via email. But what if it was a friend in trouble?

A new wave of scams has surfaced on the web and they are hitting us where it hurts: on Facebook. These slimy scammers hack into accounts and send messages to friends telling them there is an emergency and they need to borrow money fast.

You would never turn down a friend in need and these guys know it. There have already been reports of people being sucked into this scam, some losing thousands of dollars. Read More »