DEV Community: Lokeshvari Parmar

5 Tips for Social Media Privacy

Lokeshvari Parmar — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:10:04 +0000

Social media is here to stay, and with each passing day, it plays a greater role in our lives. That’s why privacy on social media has never been more important. The way you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the other social networks can have major impacts on your life, good or bad.

With a little bit of knowledge and a small dose of caution, however, you can enjoy all the benefits of social media with few of the risks. Here are some privacy concerns you should watch out for.

1. Account hacking and impersonation

Increasingly, spammers, hackers and other online criminals are targeting social networks. A compromised social media account makes for an appealing target: if they can get into your Facebook or Twitter account, they can impersonate you.

Why are they interested in your social media accounts? Because it’s a much more effective way to spread viruses, malware, and scams than more traditional email spam. People tend to trust messages they get from their social media friends. They are more likely to click links without thinking twice, which can then infect their computers.

Even worse than malware is when cyber criminals use social media for identity theft. Our private social profiles contain a wealth of personal information, which can be leveraged to open credit card accounts in your name or otherwise abuse your digital identity.

2. Stalking and harassment

Not all social media privacy threats come from strangers. Sometimes, people in your life turn out to be less than friendly. Online stalking and cyberbullying have become very well-known threats, and social media makes them very easy to perpetrate.

In one recent incident, a woman who broke up with her boyfriend was horrified to discover some time afterward that he had broken into her Instagram account and posted transcripts of private messages about their relationship and other personal information. He also changed the account password so she couldn’t log back in, shared the information on other social networks, and then accused her of spreading it herself. Download Instagram videos free risk free.

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By the time she was able to access her accounts, thousands of friends, acquaintances, and professional contacts had seen her private information. It was a privacy nightmare on multiple levels. She had never given out her password to the ex, so he gained access by hacking her accounts or guessing her password.

3. Being compelled to turn over passwords

Unfortunately, there are situations where you may be asked to turn over access to your social media accounts. One of the most common is upon starting a new job. There has been a growing trend toward employers asking for access to social media accounts, to ensure that employees aren’t sharing confidential information or trade secrets.

There have been a number of efforts at the state level to prevent companies from requesting this information. In 2016 alone, there were 39 state bills targeting this behavior. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them have failed.

Hopefully this trend will soon reverse. As people increase the amount of information they share on social media websites, the need for heightened security and privacy controls also increases. The potential for abuses and privacy violations is just too high when employers have access to an individual’s social media accounts.

4. Walking a fine line between effective marketing and privacy intrusion

The debate over whether social media advertising works is over. Advertisers pumped billions of dollars into social media ads last year, and with all that investment comes the desire to target users more accurately.

Unfortunately, there is a dark side to all of this targeting. Already, Facebook has faced criticism over its ad targeting engine, which in some cases was illegally discriminating against certain types of people.

Facebook and other social media companies are trying to adapt, but there are conflicting interests between serving their paying advertising customers and their social media users. Balancing the needs of both is difficult to do, even when there isn’t a financial incentive in place. As a result, it is likely that we will continue to see increased attempts at information gathering and privacy intrusions for the purposes of targeted marketing.

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5. The privacy downside of location-based services

Most of today’s social media users don’t access the services on a traditional computer, they do it on their smartphones. As social media continues to take advantage of mobile devices and location-based services, the potential for privacy and security threats increases. In fact, most people’s smartphones automatically collect location data continuously, and social media apps are some of the heaviest users of this data.

Without the guidance of fine-tuned legislation and privacy laws, social media services have a lot of leeway for how they use this data. There are more than a few examples of people being targeted by thieves or stalkers due to geo-location data automatically shared by their social media apps. After all, what more could a burglar ask for than to know when you’re on vacation, far away from your home?

Privacy protection: quick tips

What can you do to protect your privacy on social media? Here are a few quick suggestions:

Use strong passwords, and don’t use the same password for multiple accounts.
Don’t use social media on public devices, and if you must, make sure to log out afterward.
Disable access to geo location data for your social media apps.
Be wary about clicking links from friends in social media; you never know if they’ve been hacked.
Use two-factor authentication or password-reset checks for all your accounts.
Even on your private social profiles, keep personal information to a minimum.

8 Things to Remember When Selecting a Web Hosting Company

Lokeshvari Parmar — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 05:04:01 +0000

If you've decided to take your business online, one of the first things you'll need to do is choose a web hosting company that can give you the best possible digital experience. Choosing the right web hosting company isn't always easy - particularly since there are so many different options out there to choose from, and each claim to be the best around.

Fortunately, if you know which factors you need to consider before you get started, you can reduce the confusion involved in selecting your web hosting service. Here are 8 points to keep in mind.

1. Your Budget/ Price

The price of hosting is one of the first things that most people will look at when choosing the right hosting provider. However, while it's important to know your budget, remember that price is only one element you should be looking at. Ultimately, you need a web hosting company who can offer you the services and support you need for a price that fits your bank account. Remember not to ignore the features in favour of focusing on price.

2. Add-Ons and Features

Once you've taken a quick glance at the price, you can really start to get into the good stuff. Examine what features the hosting company can offer you, and what it is that makes them special. Does this hosting provider offer any special benefits that makes it particularly appealing to you? For instance, they might have multiple data centres across the region that helps to improve the resiliency of your website.

3. Tech Specifications

Next, think about the kind of website that you want to build, and how you're going to create your online presence. If you're hoping to run an eCommerce site with a rich blog and video content, then you shouldn't necessarily go with the cheapest hosting package available. You're going to need a provider that can give you the right amount of disk space and ram to give your customers the best experience possible.

4. Consider the Control Panel

Even if you plan on paying someone else to manage the technical side of your website for you, it's worth thinking about the control panel and how simple it might be to use. There are plenty of things that you should be able to do online today, like setting up an email account, without having to call your hosting company for extra assistance. Find out what kind of user interface the hosting provider offers, and whether you feel comfortable with it.

5. Customer Support

This is a pretty big factor in deciding which hosting provider you should go with. After all, there's always a chance that something will go wrong with your website, no matter how carefully you build it. If something does happen, then it's good to know that you have a host provider who's willing to give you the guidance you need to get your site back up and running in no time. Find out what kind of support is available, from 24/7 web chat to email service.

6. Check for Customer Satisfaction

One of the best things about our socially-connected and highly digital world today is that there are plenty of ways for you to find out more information about your intended hosting provider. A quick search online should be enough to help you find plenty of reviews and testimonials from people who have used the same service before. Read up on what people are saying about the provider before you commit to anything.

7. Hardware

Even if you're not a particularly tech-savvy person, it's worth reading up on the hardware that your service provider offers before you sign on the dotted line. Find out what kind of machines the hosting company uses, and whether they're top-of-the-line, and generally out of date. If the hosting company doesn't provide information about their servers, you can always ask about them. Hardware can affect the performance of your site.

8. Scalability

Just because your site is small now doesn't mean it's going to stay that way forever. Find out whether your hosting company fits into the plans you have for the future and can offer the scalability you need. Do they offer VPS solutions or dedicated servers if your company starts to grow particularly large? How easy is it to upgrade or expand your account? If you can't find any details about scaling on the hosting website, consider reaching out to the company before you sign up to their service.

How to Outsmart Your Technical Job Interviewer

Lokeshvari Parmar — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 11:23:13 +0000

If you're at a point where you want to find steady work in coding, developing or in any high-tech position, you can't just have the professional knowledge in your field, but also some killer interview skills. If you want to outshine other candidates, go to your interview as well prepared as you can be and use these 5 tips that will give you a great head start when you sit in front of your possible future boss:

1. Prove that you're a team player

A lot of people that go on tech interviews make the mistake of being arrogant and boasting about what they can do when sitting in front of a blank coding screen. When you go on your interview, put aside the arrogance and be confident instead. The former shows the interviewer that you are way too full of yourself to play with others while the latter shows that you can be part of a team and accept constructive criticism when necessary.

2. Communicate, communicate, communicate

The tech society is definitely made up of some special characters that oftentimes like to answer questions with binary answers – Yes or No. When in an interview, those types of answers just won't do. In any profession, interviewers prefer open ended questions, including those who work in high-tech. If asked if you have experience with, let’s say, J2EE, don't respond with a simple "yes", but instead talk about a project where you used your experience in whatever it is they asked you.

3. Get a leg up on your interviewer

If you have the contact information of your interviewer, it's not a bad idea to a little snooping around on them. Check out their social media accounts, for example, to learn more about them. You can also use websites like golookup.com to do a reverse phone lookup to look into your interviewer. Obviously, you shouldn't tell them what you found out about them but having information about the person you are interviewing for can help you know them like they know you while taking the edge off of talking to someone you have never met.

4. Don't get over eager about perks

It's no secret that tech jobs come with plenty of perks and treats for those who get into that world, but that is not a discussion matter for first interviews. If your interviewer asks you if you have any additional questions, don't start asking about vacation days or special parking spaces – those are questions for human resources. Keep your questions professional and light-mannered so your interviewer knows that you came to work and that you realize that the perks are a side bonus rather than the main event.

5. Seal the deal

There is no shame in showing that you want to get the job when you have a great interview. Before it's time to go home to wait for the hiring decision, show that you are interested. Shake the hand of the interviewer and tell him or her that you would be happy to join their team. Don't just say a polite "thank you" with a smile. Show enthusiasm (in proportion) and let the interviewers know that you are the person they were looking for.

Tech interviews can be tricky if you don't know how to get through them. These five tips will give you the edge you need over your interviewer and other candidates, and you can be sure that you will be at the top of their favorite list when you use them.

The Three Golden Rules to Safe Online Shopping

Lokeshvari Parmar — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 11:17:56 +0000

Ok, so if I have to admit it, I'm a bit of a shopaholic… I see a sale, I go in. As my life became more and more hectic after I graduated from law school, I had less time to hit the streets and go into my favorite stores like I used to do. But like a true-blue shopaholic, something as small as no spare time wasn't going to bring me down. So, I set aside a free Saturday afternoon and made the ultimate date with my laptop – a shopping date.

Being more of a in person kind of shopper, I didn't really want to get on the online shopping bandwagon. I couldn't imagine buying a dress or a pair of jeans without first trying them on or seeing how they felt. But as I started exploring all the online stores and websites, I was amazed at the selection.

Now, a few months into being an expert online shopper, I am definitely able to dole out some tips that will help you choose the best products online without having to worry that you might get your credit card information stolen or even worse – get clothes that don't fit right:

Sample The Buffet

When you see an online store that you really like and that has all those items you've been looking for, it could be tempting to buy everything seat once, but you shouldn't. Instead, buy one item that you want in order to test out its quality, size, wear and tear and everything else. That little sample is usually indicative of the quality of the items in that online store, so you can sample the buffet and choose the best selections in it for your next purchase.

Go social

Nowadays, you can't have a successful business without having a strong social media presence, and that's what most of the big online vendors have. If you come across an online store that you like and you want to make sure that it's not a scam designed to steal money and credit card info, check out its social media accounts. If the store is active, has daily posts and a lot of followers, you can rest assured that it is a legitimate store that isn't out to steal people's money.Go for Spotify hacked apk and Listen unlimited music on phone and tablet.

Rely on other people's experiences

Another great thing I came across when I got into online shopping was reviews that other people posted on stores and different products. These days, everyone has an opinion, and you definitely want to hear it when it comes to online shopping. While the opinions that people post can be helpful, there's nothing like an expert opinion to put your mind at ease and reassure you that you're not getting conned. Product reviews and product comparison websites, like information.com, have a team that has the best job ever – buying products online and testing them. From the best baby strollers (not quite for me just yet) through the best weight loss pills to the best camping tents, you can find professional reviews on just about anything and even click on a secure purchase link.

Being a shopaholic with no time is pretty hard, but with my laptop and the little rules I picked up along the way, my shopping advanced to the 21st century and it's great.