Parental control software offers automatic blocking of inappropriate sites as well as content and image filtering. You can schedule when the Internet is available to your kids, log instant messages, keep tabs on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and monitor mobile communications. New to parental control software is the ability to protect from cyberbullying.

I continue to like SafeEyes, available for Windows and Mac. NetNanny and CyberPatrol have also been upgraded with new features. While Windows and Mac offer built-in parental controls, as do many security suites, they are no substitute for a dedicated program.

Hardware parental controls are physical devices that sit between your home network and the Internet. At this point there are none I recommend because they slow down your network and can easily be removed by wily kids. However, you can configure some home routers to perform certain parental control functions like content filtering.

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Many people believe the illusion of privacy offered by social networking sites. They think they are conversing in a private setting, when in reality that information can easily end up on search engines and other public places. Google and other search engines routinely index data from Facebook and other social networking sites, and data can slip through even if your privacy settings are set to maximum.

Security also remains a concern for Facebook users. Clickjacking–tricking users into clicking links–has become so prevalent on Facebook it’s earned its own term: “likejacking.” A recent worm using link-bait such as “The Prom Dress That Got This Girl Suspended From School” has infected hundreds of thousands of Facebook users. Clicking the link marks it as “like” to your Facebook friends, giving it unwarranted credibility and helping to spread the worm. Worms like this may also attempt to gain control of your Facebook page or use malicious code to introduce viruses into your computer. Other scams use recent events like the World Cup to entice you into clicking links that purportedly go to video clips. You are then prompted to download software to view the videos, but the downloads are viruses. All those links that claim you will get X number of goodies for Farmville or other games are mostly scams. Criminals may even try to “friend” you from phony accounts so they can target you for burglaries and other crimes.

In other words, social networking sites are about as secure as sieves. What’s a Facebook user to do? My advice is to remember that anything you say on the Internet is public, regardless of your privacy settings. Don’t post information about your children, your vacation plans, or other information than could be used against you. Be wary when clicking on links, and make sure you have a good security suite that is continually updated. And, as always, stay tuned to Tech Tips for the latest computer news.

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1) Schedule when you’re going to use social media sites, then stick to it. If you limit your time to, say, a half hour every morning or an hour twice a week, you’ll get more out of your time online plus save room for the other things you need to do.

2) Integrate your efforts by using tools that let you send a single post to multiple places. For example, you might use LinkedIn’s Twitter feature to automatically post your LinkedIn status to your Twitter account.

3) Avoid chat, games and other timewasters. Tempting as they are, they cheat you out of productive time. Games in particular can also be venues for viruses. If you must play games, look for those that let you choose when to play, like card games, as opposed to those that penalize you for not using them regularly, like Farmville. And avoid groups that claim you’ll get X number of game goodies if you join–again, most of those are laden with viruses.

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Why sell profiles? As you can see from the pricing, it’s all about the contacts. Hacked profiles give criminals the ability to advertise to trusting users. If you get a message from a Facebook friend telling you to click a link, you are more likely to do so than if you get an anonymous spam message in your email. This is what we call spear phishing, targeted campaigns that appear to be from trusted sources. Buy profiles for cheap, trick people into clicking on malicious links or buying junk like rogue antivirus software, and voila! the criminals rake in the profits.

Hacked profiles can also be used to harvest your personal information to crack security questions for juicier targets like your bank accounts. Many people falsely consider Facebook a private environment and post all sorts of information about themselves, their families and their backgrounds. If you post a cute picture of your dog Rover and the security question for your bank is “What is your dog’s name?” you’ve just given away important information.

Likely there are more than 1.5 million Facebook profiles for sale out there. Also for sale are LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, email usernames and passwords, and la creme de la creme, bank accounts and passwords. Even your computer’s processing power can be bought and sold under your nose. It’s a whole underground economy taking advantage of you.

How can you protect yourself? Strong passwords that are unique on every system, good quality security software, and common sense before clicking links. I also encourage you to avoid posting personal information on places like Facebook, be careful of the friend requests you accept, and adjust your privacy settings to maximum. Even so, plenty of people who follow all the rules fall victim. The scams get trickier and more difficult to expose. It’s important to stay educated about computer security, which is why you should subscribe to my free Tech Tips newsletter to keep on top of the latest news.

Social networking sites are designed to share information, not keep it private. Even with changes such as the much-touted Facebook privacy settings, anything you put on the Internet can potentially be seen.

But this can be to your advantage, especially if you’re marketing your business. News about services or products is information you want to share. Be sure that your posts are timely, concise and above all, relevant. Nobody cares if you had cornflakes for breakfast or that you just put your socks on. The more topical and informative your message, the more followers (and business!) you’ll receive.

I strongly recommend that you avoid posting personal information, no matter what your security settings are. That includes pictures of your children or vacation plans. But by all means, post information that you want disseminated. Why not let the Internet’s viral tendencies work for you?

For more information, join me for my class on Social Networking on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010, from 9:30am-11:30am at the Cary Park District.

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It means you’d better go through your profile and make sure that everything is set the way you want it to be. While Facebook says the new rules increase privacy, you may find more of your settings exposed.

Forget the Transition Tool and go straight to the source. From Facebook, click on Settings in the upper right-hand corner, then Privacy from the pop-up menu. Then go through each section to check your settings. I recommend you set everything to Friends Only unless there are specific things you want to share with the entire Internet, like perhaps your web site if you run a business. You can preview your profile to see how it looks to others. Sophos has some good advice about Facebook security you should take to heart.

This is even more important now that major search engines like Google and Bing are scrambling to include updates from social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. What that means is that anything you put online could end up in a search engine and plastered across the Internet.

If I were you, I would consider social networking sites like cocktail parties. Anybody might overhear what you say, and it could easily end up front-page news tomorrow.

And while you’re at it, for heaven’s sake use different, secure passwords for each of your online profiles. If you don’t, you’re practically begging for someone to compromise your account. Through December 31st, new subscribers to my Tech Tips email list will receive my tip sheet on Creating Strong Passwords. Click here to sign up.