Should We Be Concerned About Social Media?
Posted on 30th June 2018 at 16:15
Should We Be Concerned About Social Media?
By definition all of the apps we use are designed to allow us be more social with people:-
People We know.
People We would like to know.
People Who would like to know us.
Whilst that may sound a little obvious, familiarity with people on our social media streams is the crux of the problem and the flaw utilised by the Cyber Criminals to steal from us.
It is undeniable that social media has become a huge aspect of modern society and it’s growth shows no sign of reducing:-
The number of internet users worldwide in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year
The number of social media users worldwide in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year.
The number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 5.135 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year.
From the above statistics it is very clear that Social Media is here to stay and will be going nowhere, unfortunately that is the root of the problem….!
Pause for a moment!
A little over 10 years ago very few had a smart device, today most people will have some form of smart device either a tablet, phone or laptop which makes accessing their social channels and sharing their experiences far easier than ever before.
Sadly though the ease of sharing and the lack of understanding of the consequences of doing so is the unforeseen error that many of us make on a daily basis.
We happily gift wrap our information!
Stop for a moment....Ask yourself a question, if you would have ever thought of or if you had ever seen anybody else doing this, would you have thought that the person who did was anything other than rather unwise?
Walk into a busy shopping area.
Pull up a chair.
Stand on it.
Shout at the top of your voice and tell everyone there:-
What you had for lunch.
When your birthday is.
Where you live.
When you are going away on holiday.
Who you bank with.
What possessions you have in your house to steal.
Where you work.
Who all your friends are.
Now you may think that this is silly, what does it matter and how can this information be of any real use to anyone…..Sadly That is actually the problem.
The Scary bit
Every time we post anything on any social media channel we are giving away personal information about ourselves that can be used to the benefit of the manipulators that :-
Became our friend
Watch social streams to learn about us or people we know.
Use their seemingly innocent conversations with us or our friends to gather as much information about us to…….
Steal from us directly with some form of scam or theft of property from our home.
Steal from our family.
Steal our identities and ruin our credit rating.
Groom us for their benefit, a unsavoury relationship or unwitting accomplice to committing a crime.
Pretend to be us and steal from our workplace or convince our colleagues into releasing sensitive or proprietary company information.
We Never Know Who Is Listening!
A look back in time…
During the Second World war we were all made fully aware that in each and every situation we found ourselves, someone, anyone could be listening to our conversations wherever we were and taking every opportunity to use the content to their benefit and the possible destruction of the country.
Fast Forward to today…
In many situations when we are using a smart device we are not in the presence of the people with whom we are communicating and therefore must trust that we are sharing with genuine contacts.
With the anonymity and growth of social media coupled with an ability to create bogus profiles many of our conversations are not with genuine contacts and in many circumstances the perpetrators will be individuals, groups or criminals who will be committing such acts for their personal and possibly illegal gain.
Our Recommendation...
Many of the incidents that are reported that involve dramatic loss of money, identity or information result from a simple click of a mouse on an email, weblink or social media channel, seemingly simple acts from which the resulting damage can be catastrophic.
In our lives and businesses we all want to be able to use our technology safely and securely with the knowledge that our contacts are genuine!
Together we can give you the information you need for complete Peace of Mind…
Tagged as: Avoid Cyber Criminals, Be Aware and Post Aware, Cyber Crime, Socail Media Concerns, social safety
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