Social media is something that almost no one can live without these days. It’s a place where you look for self-expression. Selfies, status updates, and posting memes. But there is one downside to putting your whole life online. It’s cybercriminals. For them, social media is a gold mine.
It’s simple – the more you share information, the more vulnerable you become. They can gather information about you piece by piece to then launch a targeted attack. Or you could be an employee of a large company and important data could be accessed through you.
Now, we’re going to tell you why social media is a pretty dangerous place and why you should be careful with it.
Oversharing – Main Problem
It’s perfectly normal to share your details online. You can post how you’re celebrating a birthday or a new promotion at work. You do this so that your friends or buddies will watch and share the event with you. But this harmless information can also be used by bad people for their own purposes.
For example, think about the security questions that protect many of your online accounts: “What is your mother’s maiden name?” “What was the name of your first pet?”. “What is your hometown?”.
Chances are, these answers can be found by scrolling through your social media feed. You should either think about the answers in advance and write fictitious and prepared or do not post this information on the network.
Often, hackers collect information one piece at a time and then build a complete profile of the user’s information. This is known as social engineering.
If they learn enough information, they can impersonate you, guess passwords, log into your accounts, and access sensitive data.
This is very dangerous.
Phishing In Social Media
And don’t forget about phishing. Social media is the perfect place for this deception.
Here you can include random accounts that can subscribe to you and introduce themselves as some kind of manager, send you a link that will contain phishing. Hackers can also impersonate a friend or colleague. They try to disguise themselves as familiar faces or brands to gain trust.
This can often happen on platforms such as LinkedIn. A person may write to you under the guise of an employer and offer you a link for a test job. They can then steal both your personal details and the details of any company you apply to.
To avoid this, you can look for a good antivirus that has a feature to block suspicious links. This will help you protect yourself from this type of threat at least halfway.
Fake Giveaways, Quizzes, and Contests
It is also a common practice for attackers to exploit people’s desire for entertainment. Therefore, very often on the Internet, there are fake raffles, quizzes, and other things of this type.
With the help of this, they can distribute tools that collect information about a person. Have you ever seen quizzes like “What is your royal name?” or “Which celebrity do you look like?”. They often demand access to your profile, photo, or friends list, giving third parties more access than they should have.
Of course, not all quizzes are malicious. But quite a few of them are aimed at collecting information. And no one knows where this information will go – whether it is just an advertising tag or a targeted attack.
How to Stay Safe
You always have ways to lower the chance of your data falling into the wrong hands. Let’s take a look at how:
Limit Information
This does not include any vacation photos. It’s more about the fundamental things in your life. Such as your full date of birth, address or where you live.
The less of this personal information about you online, the harder it is for someone to use it against you.
This is especially true for those who work for a big company. It is better to post less of what you do to avoid giving hackers too much information.
Check Privacy Settings
Another good rule of thumb is to check the privacy settings on each platform you use.
You can limit who can see your stories, friends list and other personal data. This will greatly increase your level of security.
Just because you’re connected online doesn’t mean someone needs full access to your life.
Be Wary of Links and Messages
Never click on suspicious links or download files from unknown senders, even if they appear to be friends. If you think something is wrong, check it outside the platform first.
Think Before You Post
Posting anything is not a good option. It’s best to be more careful.
Before posting anything, it’s best to ask yourself first: Can this information be used against you? If the answer is yes, it is better to think about posting it a little longer.
Stay Away From Fake Profiles
Don’t accept connection requests from people you don’t know personally. Verify new connections and be cautious of messages asking for favors or financial help.
