Social networks occupy part of our days, whether as a source of information, fun or amusement, the truth is that, on rare occasions, we do not do without your daily consultation. However, several behavioral errors that can compromise our online security are still common.
Among these we can highlight the Exchange of Personal Information, or Attention to unsolicited requests for password reset. Equally common are the bad habits of clicking on suspicious links, as well as not checking URLs when clicking on them.
Social networks are essential, but precautions must be taken in 2022
More than half of the world is currently on social media. As of January 2022, about 4.62 billion people use social media on a daily basis, spending more time on it than they would like.
So if on the one hand these platforms bring us closer together, on the other hand they also represent greater cybersecurity risks. That is why it is important to alert users about the main threats that appear on these platforms.
1. Sharing personal information on social networks
It happens daily on social media and can have disastrous consequences. Above all, cyber attackers target our Personal information. Once in their possession, they can launch multiple phishing campaigns and even steal money.
So, if we add to this the fact that many people use the same access credentials for different platforms, the risk is greater. Therefore, in addition to not sharing personal information, it is crucial that we define unique passwords for each platform.
2. Beware of unsolicited password reset requests
It’s hard to keep up with the number of accounts we have on all the social networks. So it is not so difficult to fall into the trap of responding to such a request. The first impulse when receiving an email to Reset your password access is by clicking on the link.
And this is how attackers gain access to your account. In these cases, you must directly visit the page of the social network in question by searching in the search engine, renewing the password directly there. And then do the same for the other accounts that have the same access.
3. Clicking suspicious links on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram
EITHER Link (link) is one of the main means to redirect users to malicious websites. These Links can be reached through a simple message or SMS. If you receive such a link, what you should do is visit the website in question through your normal browser and check the messages it has, instead of directly clicking on the link in an unsolicited email or SMS.
4. Do not verify URLs in any social network
Finally, another trick cyber attackers use to steal data is change a URL to look like a legitimate address. In fact, using this technique, hackers get a user to visit a website that they believe to be trustworthy. I mean, like a Facebook page, for example, but it’s actually cloned.
This trend was recently identified in the Check Point Software Brand Phishing Report and LinkedIn accounts for 52% of all phishing attacks globally. Therefore, to avoid these schemes, it is important to verify the addresses that are accessed, always looking for the SSL security certificate.
This certificate is proven by the “s” in the address bar: Thanks to this technology, any confidential information that is sent between two systems is protected. In practice, this is what prevents cybercriminals from accessing transferred data, including information that could be considered personal.
