You might think that social media hacking is when someone posts an embarrassing status update on your Facebook or Twitter, but as the popularity of social media grows exponentially, so too does the criminal activity associated with it. Although you don’t include any financial information on social media networks, the large amount of personal information you place on there means that identity theft is on the rise.
The most basic level of hacking usually sets out to embarrass, defame or cause mistrust about a person or business. As mentioned above it involves hacking into a person or company’s account and posting a fraudulent status update or tweet. A recent example of this was when the Twitter profile of the Associated Press was hacked and a statement appeared which said the White House had been bombed and President Obama was inured.
There have been numerous other high profile examples including the BBC, ITV News, Sky and well-known celebrities. Although such posts are misleading and embarrassing, the aftermath of such a post is usually minimal and can often be deflected relatively easily.
The more concerning follow on effect from such actions is when the hacker obtains personal information and then carries out criminal activities. Referred to as social engineering, hackers can access large amounts of personal information through social media accounts. For most people, their Facebook profile displays their entire life in detail, from birth date to email address and relationship status.
Criminals can use such information in a number of ways. They can use the information on a page to pose as that person and can gain information about bank accounts and credit cards. In other instances, hackers can contact the person themself, posing as, for example, a colleague who works in the same office as you, to gain information which could then be used to target your financial affairs.
As social networks increase (even the newest kid on the bock, Pinterest has been hacked with users reporting fraudulent pins and boards) and online crime continues to become more sophisticated, social hacking will continue to be an online presence. Just like with banking viruses there’s no telling where the future of social hacking will lead as criminals and online security software companies aim to stay one step ahead of each other.
What is certain about the future of social media hacking is that users will need to be increasingly aware of the risks associated with sharing information on such a public platform.
Knowing the methods used by hackers means users stay vigilant, continually updating their passwords and being aware of anything out of the ordinary, for example, people you don’t know adding you as a contact on Facebook.
In the future, users will have to be hyper aware of the methods they use to share private and confidential information. It is likely that secure ftp solutions will be the answer for both business and personal affairs.
Whatever the future holds for social media, users can be assured that they can protect their personal information as long as they stay alert and proactive about online protection.