Social Media Safety

Social media is a big part of our lives, but it can also be a place where our personal info is at risk. In this article, we’ll explore why social media can be tricky for security, how your private details might get exposed, and most importantly, how to keep your personal info safe on these platforms. Let’s dive in and learn how to protect what’s yours in the digital world of social media.

Social Media Risks

Sharing personal information publicly can pose a security risk. Someone could use your personal information in a cyber scam. Scams like phishing, identity theft and social engineering can be driven by personal information found on social media. The following are the security risks associated with inappropriate use of social media:

1. Anything you post publicly could potentially be used in cyber scams. A cybercriminal may be able perform social engineering attacks if they found out your favourite band or sports team. That information could be used to make phishing attempts and other social engineering more believable.
2. A cybercriminal could also conduct phishing scams against your colleagues. Any information that cybercriminals find can be used by them to conduct more realistic phishing attacks.
3. A fake profile could add you as a friend and send you phishing links or view your private posts. It’s important to not only restrict public posting, but to also only add people you know in real life as connections.

How You Can Protect Yourself on Social Media

What are some things you should do to keep your social media accounts secure?

1. Restrict your privacy settings. You should limit the amount of information you post publicly.
2. Only accept friend requests from people, you know in real life. This helps ensure you won’t be friended by fake accounts. If for example, you get a new social media friend request from a person you don’t recognize. What do you think you should do? You should reject that friend request. You should never add people you don’t know to your social media networks. This helps reduce the chances of having a scammer viewing your private information on your profile.
3. Avoid sharing job complaints on social media. If you are bothered by something that was said in a meeting during your workday. You should always bring up any work complaints internally and avoid sharing them on social media.
4. Avoid giving up personal information to online quizzes. A friend may share a quiz on a social media network that will tell you which character you would be in your favourite TV show. When you start the quiz, if it asks you questions such as ‘What’s your boss’s name?’ Please do not take the quiz. You should not give up personal information to online quizzes.