Dangerous Side of Social Media

By: The Security Awareness Company

Social media: Where people connect with others from around the world, where influencers tout the latest internet trends, and where social engineers make their money. Let’s review the dangerous side of social media and ways to stay safe.

Data Mining

People tend to overshare without considering the risks, which provides a great resource for scammers. For example, a cybercriminal may search social media to discover someone’s interests, location, and names of friends and family. They then use this information to create scams that appear legitimate.

Stay safe: Limit what you share and set your profiles to private.

Fake Profiles

Scammers often set up fraudulent accounts that impersonate people you know. They will then send you a request to be added to your network with the intention of gaining access to everything you post, along with your entire network of connections, including friends, family, and co-workers.

Stay safe: Thoroughly vet all requests to connect and report suspicious profiles immediately.

Disinformation

Disinformation refers to any falsified information created and spread to intentionally deceive people. It’s a powerful weapon that shapes public opinion for malicious purposes. Similarly, misinformation is inaccurate information that individuals share because they mistakenly believe it to be true.

Stay safe: Think critically before sharing anything that is polarizing or potentially triggering.

Deepfakes

Deepfakes are media sources, like audio files, videos, and pictures, that have been manipulated by technology to appear to be something they are not. The more that technology (like artificial intelligence) improves, the harder it will become to identify deepfakes.

Stay safe: As a general rule, if something sounds or looks unbelievable, assume that it’s fake.