Five Effective Ways To Reduce Social Media’s Dangers To Your Online Safety
The days of installing a firewall and some sort of antivirus or malware protection software and crossing your fingers are over. One-third of firms suffer a data breach every year, therefore it’s crucial that companies take immediate action and improve their security.
If you go online, you will see coverage of the latest data breach incident wherever you look. If that weren’t worrying enough, a phishing attempt on your personal information or critical company data might throw you and your team into a tailspin. The sooner you start working on reducing your cybersecurity risk, the better.
Please be aware of the potential hazards
Several social media cyber risk areas are so insidious that organisations may not even be aware of their potential harm.
Constant phishing attempts
While phishing emails have become commonplace, social media phishing is on the rise. Although some assaults target information, others try to deceive workers into handing over cash that they don’t have to.
Fragile passphrases
Despite efforts, many company social media accounts still utilise insecure passwords. Users may mistakenly assume they don’t need a strong password for these accounts because of their perceived lesser risk.
Deposits that aren’t constantly inspected
Cybercriminals frequently target unmonitored social media accounts, as we saw in our piece on social media for accountants. Social media accounts that were formerly utilised by the firm but are no longer in use include those of inactive campaigns, former workers, and the like.
Social media shadow IT
There is a plethora of programmes available that help streamline the process of managing a company’s social media profiles. It is critical, however, to recognise the dangers of shadow IT and the way in which the use of unauthorised programmes might compromise data security. Shadow IT refers to any programme that has not been approved by the IT staff. The reason this can be a security issue is if the software is not up-to-date or includes known flaws, hackers can exploit it.
Social media management software firms like eclincher take extra precautions to safeguard critical information for their customers privacy since they serve an international audience. To protect the privacy of their customers, they use measures such requiring captcha and other authentication schemes and requiring token renewal of personal social media accounts linked to the programme. Social media businesses have an obligation to preserve sensitive information. Investing in a new social media management platform is a big deal, so before you make any decisions, make sure your organisation has covered their policies here.
Cybercrime that targets social media platforms is on the rise.
These dangers are sadly contributing to a substantial increase in cybercrime on social networking sites. According to the numbers, fraudsters likely extort almost $3.25 billion annually by using various social media platforms. These are typical difficulties encountered by businesses on a daily basis.
The truth is that some businesses have been too sluggish to adjust, leaving them open to prospective threats.
The need for a new strategy for cyber protection
A new, more proactive approach to cybersecurity is needed by businesses. It’s no longer sufficient to install a firewall and antivirus programme and hope for the best.
Although these methods are still useful, they need to be coupled with more modern, proactive and reactive strategies.
Containing and reducing danger
The good news is that you can take several measures to reduce the potential damage to your network’s security that might result from your use of social media.
The Education of Workers
It is critical to invest in training for staff members. Workers need training on how to be safe on social media. Workers may be made aware of potential hazards and given advice and direction on how to handle problems when they develop with the help of well-designed training programmes. Modern, ongoing training is essential, but that’s a topic for another day.
Security services should be outsourced.
Due to a lack of qualified candidates, most small and medium-sized enterprises cannot afford to invest in cybersecurity. Yet, this doesn’t imply you can’t get the necessary assistance elsewhere. Working with and outsourcing to a business that specialises in cybersecurity is a viable option.
Cybersecurity outsourcing not only seems like a smart decision for businesses, but it may also become an essential consideration in an environment lacking cyber-skills, but saturated with cybercrime, according to Rick Jones at Info Security Magazine.
Authentication that takes into account more than one factor
There is a simple solution that can be used across all social media accounts to significantly increase their safety. All of the main social networking sites now include some sort of multi-factor authentication (MFA) option. When you try to log in, it effectively requires you to provide an additional form of identification.