Bloggers vulnerable to hacks

Here's a good reason for bloggers to make sure only people on their blogs' friends or buddy lists can email or instant-message them. This might be a good discussion point for parents and teen bloggers: CNET flags a warning from security firm Websense saying that "cybercriminals are increasingly using blog sites and other free online services to spread malicious code." The criminals lure people to malicious sites with "enticing emails and instant messages." When bloggers click to the sites, their computers become infected. "In one case, a greeting card was displayed and a tune played in the background while spyware was being installed on the compromised PC." It's all about good privacy practices while blogging. Different services - MySpace.com, Xanga.com, LiveJournal.com, Blurty.com, etc. - have different privacy features (e.g., only designated friends can read profiles, posts, etc. or only friends can reply to posts or send IMs and emails). If you have a very young blogger at your house, you might go through those features together (your child will know where they are). For more on this, take a look at "A dad on kids' blogs: How father & [12-year-old] daughter worked through the issues."