Sloppy social media habits can lead to a compromise that extends beyond an individual’s personal account. Many people don’t realize that their login credentials tie them together with an invisible thread in the dark web. A hacked social account could lead to access to business credentials or more.
Hackers 101
Being in IT, you’re familiar with the various ways that hackers work to gain trust. That trust innocently leads to providing information that an individual deems irrelevant, but is not. It could be the one missing answer to a question that provides access to a password. Let’s take a quick look at the different ways that data can be unsuspectingly compromised.
Impersonation
Many of us have been ‘friended’ by someone who appears to be hacked. The victim has provided enough information to have their online profile duplicated. This provides cyber criminals with a chance to connect to you without you realizing they are impersonating someone you know and trust. There is a chance you’ll give up information without realizing this beforehand.
Another danger is that your business profile is hacked or duplicated. This provides an opportunity for a cybercriminal to threaten your good standing in the community or reputation on a larger scale.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is one of the easiest ways to get information. Through online conversations that don’t require in-person meetings, participating in those fun quizzes online, or answering a phone call that is asking for “just a minute of your time” for a survey.
You think you’re merely having fun, or giving your opinion, but in reality, you’re possibly giving them the answer to a security question that protects your account. One of the more prevalent ways to collect data is through an online quiz. Which kind of animal are you? You’re better off just staying clear, the answer won’t turn you into a leopard. But it might give your information to a snake (no offense to all of the snake lovers out there).
Watch for Phishing Attacks
Phishing can come at you in many ways. Let’s say that your online social presence indicates that you are a football fan. Some of those fun Facebook quizzes about your football expertise may have provided information to engineer a phishing attack. Or perhaps you start to receive fraudulent contest alerts to win game tickets or a trip to the Super Bowl. It’s all connected. Click here to win your prize, just enter your information so we can send you the tickets!
Phishing attacks are sophisticated. And hackers work in conjunction with data from other breaches to provide a really accurate dupe to fool you.
Stay Safe & Secure
Don’t be fooled into thinking that your identity isn’t valuable. We mistakenly think that a hacker won’t get too far on the funds in your bank account. The issue is with the havoc that can be brought upon your friends, business, family members, or even your own identity if you are falsely impersonated. You don’t have to be what you might consider rich to be a valuable asset in cybercrime.
Staying safe is done by implementing behaviors with training and by enabling security measures in your online activity. These will help to mitigate the risk of being breached or compromised. Always use multi-factor authentication when it is available. At work, train your team to recognize the tactics that hackers will use. Security Risk Assessments will identify the gaps and provide you with the opportunity to fix them. Breach Secure Now can help MSPs provide their clients with these solutions and more. Learn more about us here!
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