Osama bin Laden

The excitement and curiosity over the death of Osama bin Laden hasn't just sparked a flurry of activity on the Internet — it's also become a feeding ground for hackers looking to steal your information. Just because something shows up in a Google search or gets past your spam folder doesn't mean it's legit — hackers prey on unsuspecting victims during news events by hiding malicious links and viruses in common-looking web pages. They may even send out phishing emails, teasing leaked or exclusive photos in order to get you to hand over credit card info, download a virus, or even gain access to home networks. How can you protect yourself against a cyberattack? Check out my tips below!

• Beware of unknown links: Just because something shows up in your inbox or on your Facebook wall doesn't mean it's not spam. If you don't know where the link came from (or it looks suspicious), don't click!
• Don't give out usernames or passwords: If you've been asked to enter your username and password anywhere else than a legit online account you already frequent, back away slowly.

Check out the rest of my tips after the jump.

Millions of Americans were captivated last night as President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, but the news did more than just increase TV ratings — it also caused a huge spike in Internet activity while citizens searched for details and updates. Find out how this breaking news affected the Internet below!

• Twitter — It was a big moment for Twitter, as the news actually broke on the microblogging site. Though there was a traffic spike of 4,000 tweets per second, there was not a fail whale in sight. Way to go!
• Internet — As the news leaked out and President Obama began his speech, the Internet was a pretty packed place with over four million pageviews per minute to top news sites, which amounts to a 28 percent increase here in the US.
• Mobile news — Mobile browsers aren't immune from high traffic spikes, as CNN's mobile site crashed shortly after the news hit.
• Newseum — Citizens looking to find out how newspapers around the country are covering Osama bin Laden's death would usually check Newseum (which posts digital replicas of hundreds of newspapers around the country), but searchers actually crashed the newspaper site this morning.

• See what celebrities are saying about Osama Bin Laden's death — Us Weekly
• What really went down with Pippa and Harry — Lainey Gossip
• Jordin Sparks tweets a bikini photo — Too Fab
• How William and Kate drove off into the sunrise — People
• Jaden Smith's huge Karate Kid payday — Huffington Post
• Lindsay Lohan to plead no contest — PopEater
• Tallulah Willis busted for alcohol possession — Lifeline Live
• Channing Tatum cast in a stripper movie — Wonderwall
• Katy Perry's interesting red carpet look — Celebitchy
• Justin Bieber gets egged in Sydney — ICYDK

Last night at 8:35 p.m. PST, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by a military operation on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. But by the time his speech had started, the news of bin Laden's death had already spread around Twitter and Facebook. While social media is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, it's quickly becoming my favorite place to check up on breaking news. How has social media changed the way news is reported? Check out a few examples of how this breaking story unfolded below.

• Twitter — White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer announced on Twitter that the POTUS would be making a speech at 7:30 p.m. PST, but the first tweet about bin Laden's death came from a former chief-of-staff for Donald Rumsfeld. Twitter explosion ensues.
• Push notifications — If you have installed any news apps on your smartphones (like AP Mobile for example), you'd get quick and timely breaking news pop-ups. I got my first notification about the news shortly after the first tweet about bin Laden's death hit the Internet. I then went straight to my trending topics on Twitter to get more information.
• Text messaging — News spreads quickly online and within social networks thanks to text messaging. Texting has been growing in popularity among all age groups, and is sometimes the preferred choice of communication over phone calls and emails.
• Facebook — A group called Osama Bin Laden is Dead pops up on Facebook, and within minutes, starts collecting hundreds of fans. As more people "like" the page, the quicker the news spreads through friends.
• Live news feeds online — President Obama addressed the nation via traditional media outlets like TV and radio, as well as on Ustream. It also had embedded video on its official webpage, and on the White House Live Facebook page. Additionally, White House staffers were live tweeting key quotes during the speech on Twitter.

How has social media changed the way you consume news? Where did you first read about Osama bin Laden's death?

President Obama took to the airwaves earlier to announce that Osama bin Laden had been killed. And if you had been away from your TV set, radio, or Internet at any point this evening, you could quickly get caught up on the events due to several trending topics like "Osama bin Laden," "mission accomplished," "Watching CNN," and "Wolf Blitzer."

We already know that Twitter is a great source for breaking news, but this time, the news actually came first on Twitter thanks to a clued-in former chief-of-staff for Donald Rumsfeld. There's already a Facebook page dedicated to the news with over 142,000 likes. Obviously, news travels fast these days, but how did you hear about the death of Osama bin Laden — Twitter, Facebook, or another traditional news source?