There are a lot of social media platforms online including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. We have a lot of choices when it comes to social media platforms and so do the cybercriminals who want to make their next attack.
There are a lot of ways in which a hacker can harm you. Some of them are listed below:-
• Social engineering
• Phishing
• Malware
• Data breaches
• Clickjacking
• Affiliate scams
• Fake giveaways
• Catfishing
• Fake followers
• Cyberbullying
• Cyberstalking
• Identity theft
In this article, we will discuss how we can provide safety for your personal information and identity online read the complete article to know about Top 10 social media threats to watch out For.
1. Social Engineering
Social Engineering is a technique of cyber-attack, where a hacker may trick you into compromising your personal information. This is done in the form of a phishing email sent to an inbox or smishing text sent to iPhones or Androids.
You can protect yourself by not giving sensitive data to strangers over the phone or via email or text. You never know if the person on the other side is a fraud.
2. Phishing
Phishing on social media occurs when a cybercriminal sends you an email pretending to be a reputed social media platform. The message may be in the form of an alert. Telling you that there is an “account issue” that must be resolved immediately and provide a specific link.
3. Malware
One of the most threatening things on social media is malware. It’s a vehicle that hackers use to carry out cyberattacks. There are different kinds of malware that can be used by hackers to break into your social media accounts. These include viruses, worms, adware, trojans, and spyware to name a few.
You should be careful about what links you click and what files you open and download. Cybercriminals can get malicious programs onto vulnerable devices without your knowledge.
4. Data Breaches
Some of the most vulnerable sites on the internet are social media sites. According to estimates data of more than 200 million Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn users was breached in 2021.
Although it is the role of social media platforms to properly protect user data it’s up to you to ensure that you don’t upload info that you don’t want to be exposed. In order to secure your social media accounts, you must never include personal emails, addresses, and phone numbers in your bio.
5. Clickjacking
This is an advanced social media threat and hacking technique. Although a lot of coding is involved, a social media hacker is able to do what the name suggests i.e., hijacking a click.
Clickjacking can lead you to redirect a click or “like” you do on social media that hit a different button. A hidden button can be automated by hackers on social media. This will automatically share a post on your profile or install a drive-by download on your device.
6. Affiliate scams
Another way of making quick money that hackers apply is affiliate scams. They sell the credentials to third-party companies that want to bring more traffic to their websites.
A hacker may create and post a fake ad with an infected link on FB or Insta. It may take you to a duplicate website, once you click on it and then ask for personal info like emails, phone numbers or addresses to get you registered. You will realize that it was a fake only after they record your info and stop following up.
7. Fake Giveaway
Similar to affiliate scams, fake giveaways allow hackers to pay themselves instead of middlemen. For achieving this, the hacker may impersonate a major brand or company and post fake competitions or prizes to attract people to an infected website.
Once you go to their site, they may try to use malware to collect your banking info, emails, and other forms of personal data that can exploit you further.
8. Cyberbullying
Due to social media’s open nature, Cyberbullying is very much prevalent. People sometimes leave hateful and hurtful comments on other people’s posts by taking advantage of the anonymity of their accounts.
9. Cyberstalking
This is worse than cyberbullying. If someone uses emails, DMs or other electronic methods to scare, threaten or harass someone else with physical harm, it is called Cyberstalking.
Although this has many forms, if you are getting constant unwanted attention from a person or company, you may be dealing with a cyberstalker.
10. Identity Theft
If you are not careful about sharing personal information, social media can put you at risk of identity theft. Hackers go through your profile bios and account details to steal your identities and take anything that they can put their hands on.By mimicking your identity, they can create a completely new identity. You don’t know what they will do with the new identity. They can do anything from banking fraud to credit card fraud.