Social media has come a long way since its inception. From being a way to connect to friends halfway around the world, it has reached a point where LinkedIn is a parameter that companies consider while hiring. In today’s digital world, people, especially teenagers, post what they think is cool. Looking cool according to what is the trend is what’s important for them. People who view these posts could be your friends, family, acquaintances, your future employers and everyone else on your follow list or the internet depending on your privacy. Teenagers don’t think beyond the attention they receive today.
There are many things that you should think of before you put up a post on social media –Â
- Is it something you could be held responsible for?
- Is it okay if your teacher or future boss sees this?
- Is it something you would let your parents see?
Social media can be fun, but it is equally important to be safe on social media. Here are the risks that could happen on social media.
Risks of Social Media
All the information that is out there on social media makes it a minefield for hackers. Hackers can find many ways to obtain your information. Hackers use a technique called social engineering to get your data. They send you a message on Instagram, email, or any other social media. These messages might look attractive but are actually injected with malicious code that allows hackers to steal your identity, inject malware into your computer or steal your financial information among a few other uses. Hackers use URL shortening tools that are available online. Not knowing what domain they’re sent to, people are tricked into clicking these links. These links are how hackers do their intentions.
Another common crime done by hackers on social media is identity theft. They acquire your personal information which is stored on social media sites. Even if you keep your profile on the highest security setting, there are ways that identity thieves can bypass them. Most social media sites require mandatory information like your email address and birth date. It is easy for an identity thief to hack into your email address by using publicly available information. For example, a common way to obtain personal information is by using the forgot password and recovering information from the email address given there. Once the identity thief obtains access to your email account, they get all information you’ve made available on social media sites. They can also mimic your identity to send all kinds of messages to your contacts.
Now that you know the risks that can happen through social media, let us look at a few ways to keep yourself safe on social media.
1. Limit the Information you Share
2. Keep your Security High
3. Beware of Clickjacking
4. Strengthen Your Passwords
Read More: How to Create Strong Passwords
5. Use Separate Email Accounts
Interested to learn more about various other ways to keep yourself safe on the internet? Follow our blog to keep yourself updated with the latest trends in cybersecurity.