Connecting 2 billion profiles, but not only with friends…
During the 90’s Nokia as a leading cell phone company was connecting hundreds of thousands of people around the world. In today’s digital world Facebook is connecting billions of people. However, statistically, and factually, not all are saints. The social media platform’s ability to protect our privacy can be somewhat overrated.
Social Media Engineering on Facebook
Facebook is one of the leading global social media platforms. The social network has around 1.32 billion active users each day, and 400 new users added every 60 seconds. People gather around their micro world of friends or join groups and follow big brands. Thus the interaction daily is very hectic. Statistics of major marketing companies show that 600,000 Facebook accounts are compromised each day. Why so many?
Cybercriminals have realized that social engineering is the easiest way to reach their goal. Utilizing information phishing techniques, all one has to do is wait for someone to click on an email message link. From thereon the personal information is easily available. In a survey, a hacker declared that an account’s password can be cracked in 7 seconds. There are even services offered for hacking Facebook accounts in a couple of minutes for the price of $2,000.
A cybercriminal will go through multiple profiles searching for exposed information. There are 147,000 photos uploaded on Facebook per minute. Selection is vast, and the hacker will eventually gain access to the account. The information collected is used to sell the identity or fabricate a fake one (using pieces of data to fabricate a false identity).
Recent observations by cyber security representatives show that new malicious viruses like “The Faceliker” are deployed to infect user’s accounts and force false likes on posts or other websites. In other words whoever deploys the virus is making money through the ads shown on websites. The more clicks the more profit..
Have you been hacked?
How to identify the signs of your account being hacked? The first red flag by default is the fact that Facebook sends you an email information on the suspicious behavior of your account. The only way to be sure is to check, review, and act.
Checking the actual access to the Facebook account will tell you the obvious truth. If you cannot login – your account has been hijacked. If that isn’t the case, you are in luck and still have time to make things right.
Review your account for any changes you have not made in posts, likes, follows and titles. The second step should be reviewing applications that are connected to your account.
Act upon your knowledge, in the privacy setting tab reconsider changing settings. How to make your Facebook settings private? Check the settings under who can view your profile and post, who can send you friend requests and finally most important – who can discover you through your email or mobile number.
The Trouble in Facebook Privacy
The Facebook empire has been struggling with its own security lately. It has been discovered that many Facebook accounts have been hacked into. Using someone else’s account cybercriminals collect data, and perform other malicious acts. The trouble is there have been reports of various free malware for cracking Facebook passwords, and the “how to” spreading around the Internet.
In May this year Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced that he will be adding 3000 human employees to existing 4500. The idea is for them to perform the security assessment on the platform. Including posts, live posts, and videos. “These reviewers will also help us get better at removing things we don’t allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation.” – announced Zuckerberg adding to the list of visions of building a safer community.
By the beginning of August Facebook had to deal with their rogue chatbots. The AI that was initially assigned to negotiate using adversarial network has developed its own cognitive language. Elon Musk has commented upon the event, that the artificial intelligence in the deep network is a menace for humanity.
As the rogue chatbots were shut down Facebook had an issue of violation of privacy in Europe. Preceded by France, Spain’s data protection authority has fined the Facebook social network with $1.44 million. The agency has stated that Facebook has been breaking privacy rules on multiple counts, including using personal information, private life details and beliefs of individuals for advertising purposes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that people have the right to know in detail how their personal information’s are being used.
The Exploit of Faces on the Photos
India has been combating identity theft through social engineering on Facebook. The hackers have been using user’s photos on the platform and made a fraudulent account designed for scamming and stealing information. Facebook has responded by putting a watermark over user’s photos upon upload.
Social Network and Identity Theft
With all the fraudulent attacks going on, privacy has become something that is hard to hold on to. Social networks have been a chatroom for friends to interact in the cyber landscape. Yet the cybercrime has twisted that to achieve financial gain. Identity theft is one of the most common crimes on social networks and protection is scarce.
Beyond changing ones online behavior, there are software products developed which provide security and enhanced digital privacy. Each one has features that perform in a different way. Depending on your personal preferences you can choose any to add additional layer of protection to your personal information. Identity Theft Preventer for example, has a deep scanning mechanism that reports in detail of all potential risks to your private information. This means any file that could harm or expose your personal private information. The software informs the user of any exposed login credentials, credit cards or any other information stored locally or within the browsers. We have seen and heard about the exploitation of users’ webcams and microphone, therefore ShieldApps has added the camera and microphone blocking feature. Giving the user full control over any external usage of the webcam or microphone port. Thus keeping the computer or laptop safe from prying eyes.
The sad fact is that social media including Facebook and other platforms offer a large audience to the perverted criminal minds. Criminals are not only abusing personal information provided freely by the users, but also abuse the Facebook Live videos.
So how does an individual protect himself from all threats? By reviewing his/her privacy settings and minimizing trust. By some divine predisposition, people tend to trust in social media networks. The truth is the trust is what cybercriminals rely upon. It is what fuels the vast storage of online information. The users themselves leave too much personal data online. Even when deleted it is still recorded and floating somewhere in the scripts forever.