6 February, 2017

Social media is a great platform to stay connected with friends, express views and opinions on a topic as well as promote your products/services. However, a lot of people tend to post about every minor or major happenings of their lives on their social networking profiles. This can jeopardize their personal as well as professional privacy and put them at risk for various online attacks.

Here are some of the risks of sharing too much information online:

Private Information Can Become Public

It is a well-known fact that whatever you post on the internet stays forever. Therefore, it is important that you understand the term ‘Too Much Information’ and know what you should and should not share on social media. Posting your personal details, your child’s school or a holiday trip can be misused by the hackers.

Cookie Tracking

When you access your social networking account, it creates cookies to track your browsing sessions and load information faster the next time. Some tracking cookies can also pose security and privacy concerns, particularly when you are using a public computer. They can store your sensitive information, such as user name and password, which can be used by the cyber criminals to keep a record of your online activities and get access to all the personal information that you share.

Spear Phishing

The information you share about yourself on social media, such as birthday, job title, email address, interests etc., may not seem to be sensitive initially. However, it can be tactfully used by the hackers to craft a phishing email that requires you to click on a link or provide your account details. The authenticity of the information contained in the email compels you to believe that it has been sourced from a reliable entity.

How To Protect Yourself?

  • Be careful while posting anything on your social networking profiles
  • Change your passwords frequently
  • Review your privacy settings to limit accessibility of your sensitive details
  • Avoid geo-tagging your posts and images
  • Do not share your credit card or financial information
  • Be selective in accepting friends and follower requests. Make sure you connect with only those people who you know personally.

For more tips on social networking security, feel free to contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.