Cybersecurity has become one of the prevailing issues of our time – with so much of our personal data now being transmitted online, the risk of major loss is significant, and very real, which is why we all need to take precautions. Initially, people may not think of social media hacks as that big of a deal as far as a cyber hack goes. However, there is very important information you can lose that may end up proving just as damaging. That is why we need to fully understand cybersecurity for social media and what information is at stake. Take for example the recent FaceApp, which came under scrutiny for its terms and conditions allowing access and usage to user’s pictures.

Riding on that, ICE71 invited 4 panelists to share about cyber threats and the dangers of social media.

It was noted that some of the reasons of the hackers’ attack could be monetary motivated, social media accounts having poor security, activist groups, corporate espionage, or social engineering used on phishing.

The threats can range from people – a careless post or a missent message can be the catalyst for a major data breach. Cybercriminals can even use personal information available on most social media accounts to impersonate employees, and then gain access to a restricted database or network. Fake news and phishing (cybercriminals use social media to obtain users’ sensitive data and have them click on malicious links) can also put one’s social media at risk. Lastly, spam in which spammers create a fake account that they can use to start a spam campaign can also lead to data loss.

To stay safe on social media, click links with caution, be careful about what you share and don’t reveal sensitive personal information online because the more you post the easier it is to have your identity stolen!