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About 4 billion people worldwide use social media. These apps range from Instagram to Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter and allow users to share pictures, watch videos, voice their opinions, make product recommendations, and keep in touch with others. While social media promotes connectivity and creativity, we must ask, is our involvement and reliance on social media dangerous?
Social media is a broad platform that many companies have adapted to sell their products and services. The digital market has spurred the growth of e-commerce greatly. Targeted ads are a tool sellers use to personalize their communication with consumers and focus on demographics. According to the Forbes article, The Truth In User Privacy And Targeted Ads, targeted ads are like algorithms that collect and analyze users current activity and history through cookies, location information, and mined data. Collecting this information and data is considered for some a major invasion of privacy, yet inevitable in most cases. These personalized ads also provide a platform for scammers to reach consumers more easily. The Federal Trade Commission’s article, Social media a gold mine for scammers in 2021, reported that at least 25% of people who reported to fraud stated that it started on social media, either through an ad post or message, making social media the most profitable platform for scammers. From a scammer perspective, social media is the ideal setting for cybercrime. According to the Federal Trade Commission, social media is low cost, accessible, and easy to manipulate. As easy as it is for everyday users like students, parents, and friends to create accounts and post freely, the same goes for scammers, allowing them to follow their targets and create personalized scams and messages, similar to advertisers and corporations.
Users are manipulated in many ways, and scammers are only becoming more creative with their methods. According to the Forbes article, Most Common Cyber Security Threats in 2023, ransomware is the leading threat. Ransomware varies in how the hackers access the data and their purposes, yet it always results in a payment request to the user in order to release their data. Frequent backups of data and ensuring it is in a safe place is important to potentially prevent being in a ransomware situation. Additionally, misconfigurations and unpatched systems are the second most common forms of cybercrime. Unfortunately, some sites’ databases may not be fully protected, easily allowing hackers to scan for holes and take advantage of weak protection. Checking to make sure your data is protected and in a reliable location is an easy yet effective way to avoid hackers. Next, credential stuffing occurs when hackers take user information from one website and input it into others. credential stuffing is on the rise as usernames and passwords have become easier to decrypt. Luckily, multi-factor authentication and variation among accounts is an easy way to prevent this crime. Finally, social engineering is a targeted attempt on an individual where they are tricked through phishing to download malware or give up their information and passwords. Being aware of typical phishing messages and knowing the signs and language of a cyberthreat is an important skill to prevent social engineering.
Data can be collected, analyzed, and followed easily on social media, and now, consumers and citizens are calling on their governments to prevent cybercrime and enhance cyber security. According to the Deloitte Insights article, Government’s broader role in cyber, government regulation of social media platforms should not only include public platforms but private ones as well. The United Kingdom has taken action through their creation of the National Cyber Security Centre that provides a national and unified response to cyber attacks. Coverage of every online sector and enterprise is important to ensure the safety of all users. Furthermore, an initiative that is beginning to gain popularity around the world is integrating cybersecurity training initiatives into schools and other courses. Allowing users to recognize the signs of scams and hackers and training them is important for the protection of their personal information. These trainings and classes also open up new opportunities and jobs, as companies and organizations need specialized and trained professionals to protect them from cyberthreats, especially with the changing online market.
As social media and online usage grows, so do the opportunities for hackers and scammers to take advantage of users. Knowing the common threats, taking extra precautions such as password variation, verification, and filtration are important. Additionally, taking classes on cybersecurity allows for the development of a useful skill and crucial knowledge to save your data and valuable information.