Do you know that Facebook recorded 2.93 billion active users for the first quarter of 2022 which is about 37% of the world’s population? Although varying in number, millions and billions of active users are on other social networking platforms like WhatsApp with 2.44 billion active users, WeChat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook messenger, and LinkedIn. These Social Networking platforms provide a space for individuals from all walks of life to connect with people of like interest both socially and professionally. It is a social marketplace used for communication, marketing and advertisement, soliciting for funds, and even for requiting. With these staggering numbers of users, digital safety on social networking platforms is of utmost importance. Digital safety refers to protecting yourself, your data, and physical devices on the social network.
“In 2018, 35-year-old David Matthew impersonated Demi Moore, reported her card stolen, used her social security number and other personal information he got from the Internet and requested for a new card”. Result? He spent over $169,000 of the victim’s money. This is just one of the many horror stories of not being digitally safe.
Some consequences of not being digitally safe:
Identity theft and Catfishing scams: Snippets of personal data of victims are collected on the internet and used to create an identity online. Unsuspecting individuals have lost money due to this menace, some have been kidnapped and killed because they trusted the wrong individual online.
Spear-fishing and targeted malware attacks: This is prevalent for those who work in companies that practice the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Employees of such companies who also use social networking platforms on their devices are susceptible to attacks like this. Their email addresses are gotten online, suspicious links are sent to them, and being careless, they click such links. The effect of this is that zombies and worms are installed on the device and once they try to access the company network, the worm replicates, the zombies are spread across the network, and boom! There is an attack.
Cyberbullying: Hiding behind the anonymity that the social networking platform gives, there are people who go about bullying others. These individuals lack empathy so much that when a person posts sensitive matters on the platforms, they take delight in tearing such a person down.
Fraud and Scam: The social networking platform has provided a place for sellers and buyers to meet and carry out transactions. As much as there are honest people, there are also some people who have used this opportunity to scam innocent users of their money. Some have exploited others’ empathy by lying about peril and defrauding others of their money.
Job Loss: There was a case in 2018, where a lady got an internship opportunity with NASA, and in her excitement, she tweeted something unprofessional and in summary, she lost the internship. There are individuals who have gotten to the last stage of their interview and on getting to the social networking platform review, they were disqualified.
Online Stalking: This has also been on the rise as social networking platforms get popular. Due to the platforms’ nature, everyone can see what you post, it is often said that whatever has been posted on social networking platforms is no longer private. Some users on social networking platforms go as far as posting where they will be in the next 2 hours with a precise location.
“Can I not use social networking platforms in peace again”? You can! You just have to make sure that you don’t become a victim and that you are not part of the statistics of victims.
Here are helpful tips on being digitally safe on social networking platforms:
Keep personally identifiable information professional and limited: For platforms like LinkedIn, recruiters do not need your house address or even your cell phone number. On platforms where your personal information is needed, keep it to the barest minimum. If it is not made compulsory, do not fill it in.
Make online purchases on secured sites: Do not input your card details on just any website you are redirected to when performing business transactions on social networking platforms. Do not transfer money directly into their account, use a secure online payment platform.
Be careful what you post: Being careless about what you post will either give your stalker more information about you or it comes back to haunt you when your personal brand is to be verified.
Be careful about putting your personal information online. Be careful about the way you word your replies to those you are arguing with. Be careful about how you represent yourself online.
Do not click links that are not from trusted sources: Either in your email or in your DM, do not click suspicious links as this might be a way for malware such as adware, keyloggers, etc. to be installed on your device.
Keep your antivirus up-to-date: Antiviruses on your devices are not for shows, they are there to provide some level of protection. Update them regularly as this helps detect new threats that might be posed to your device.
Enable Multi-factor authentication: On all your social networking platforms, enable multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication helps to protect your account so that you will not be hacked and then impersonated.
Your privacy is important, your identity should not be stolen, and you shouldn’t be scammed, defrauded, bullied, or harassed. This is only possible if you practice digital safety. Digital safety shouldn’t be a second, let it be at the forefront of whatever relates to your social networking platforms.
Stay safe readers!
Meet Our Research Analyst:
Ruth Fatayo is a Research Analyst at Presence Secure. She is a 400L Cyber Security student at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. Connect with Ruth via LinkedIn. Email: [email protected]
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