Mitigate Social Media Security Risk

Throughout the course when have a lot of information on how Social Media can be an effective and profitable way to engage customers and build communities. However, as with everything in life with the rewards comes the risks and Social Media is no accepting to this. Take a look at the video below that features two of the biggest Hollywood mogul.

Social Media Risks 

There are many security risks that target social media. Some of these risks include:

• Stolen Passwords- One of the simplest but mostly costly security issues is stolen social media account passwords. If someone uses a stolen password to log in and change the company accounts, this creates a major hassle for your company while you try to manage a PR crisis and revert your accounts back to their original state.
• Hacked Accounts-When your account access is compromised.

• Ransomware and Virus Attacks-Ransomware describes a variety of malicious software that block access to a computer system until a sum of money (a ransom) is paid.
• Phishing & Brand Impersonation- Phishing typically involves setting up a website that resembles that of the company whose customers are targeted as part of the phishing attack. The idea is to convince the individuals that the website belongs to the trusted company, such as the person’s bank, so that the victim reveals sensitive information.
• Third-party apps- Even if you have your own social accounts on lockdown, hackers may be able to gain access through vulnerabilities in third-party apps that integrate with the big social networks.
• Human error- Everyone makes mistakes. In today’s busy world, it is all too easy for an employee to accidentally expose the company to threats online. Something as simple as clicking on the wrong link or downloading the wrong file could wreak havoc.
• Unattended social media accounts- Idle social accounts can be the target of hackers, who could start posting fraudulent messages under your name. Knowing the account is unmonitored, once they gain control, they could send anything from false information that’s damaging to your business to virus-infected links that cause serious problems for followers. And you won’t even notice until your customers start coming to you for help.

Social Media Security Tips and Best Practices

Now that these risks have been identified the business must be proactive to mitigate them. The following should be informs by all businesses on Social Media:

• Create a social media policy- If your business is using social media or getting ready to you need a social media policy. These guidelines outline how your business and its employees should use social media responsibly. This will not only protect your from security threats, but bad PR or legal trouble as well.
• Train your staff on social media security best practices- Even the best social media policy won’t protect your organization if your employees don’t follow it. While your policy should be easy to understand, training will give employees the chance to engage, ask questions, and get a sense of how important it is to follow. These training sessions are also an opportunity to review the latest threats on social, and talk about whether there are any sections of the policy that need updating.
• Limit social media access- While you may be focused on threats coming from outside your organization, research has found that employees are more likely to cause cyber security incidents than are hackers. Limiting access to your social accounts is the best way to keep them secure. You may have whole teams of people working on social media messaging, post creation, or customer service. But that doesn’t mean everyone needs the ability to post. And it doesn’t mean that everyone needs to know the passwords to your social accounts.
• Set up a system of approvals for social posts- You can use varies tools (eg. Hootsuite) to give employees or contractors the ability to draft messages, preparing them so they’re all set to post at the press of a button. But leave that last button press to a trusted person on your team.
• Put someone in charge- This may seem like a given measure for a business to implement but many small businesses overlook it. Designating a key person as the eyes and ears of your social presence can go a long way towards mitigating risks. This person should own your social media policy, monitor your brand’s social presence, and determine who has publishing access.
• Monitor your accounts and engage in social listening- As mentioned in the risk, unattended social accounts are ripe for hacking. Keep an eye on all of your social channels. It can be a good idea to reserve your brand’s handle on all social media channels, even if you don’t plan to use them all right away. This allows you to maintain a consistent presence across networks, making it easy for people to find you. But it’s important not to ignore the accounts you don’t use yet, those that you’ve stopped using, or those you don’t use often
• Invest in security technology- No matter how close an eye you keep on your social channels, you can’t monitor them 24 hours a days but software can. Solutions such as ZeroFOX which is featured in the video above will automatically alert you of security risks.
• Perform a regular audit- Social media security threats are constantly changing. Hackers are always coming up with new strategies, and new scams and viruses can emerge at any time. Scheduling regular audits of your social media security measures will help keep you ahead of the bad actors.

Yes, Social Media is a very effective and profitable that businesses can utilize. However, there are security risks involved which can be mitigated by using the security tips and best practices outlined above. So in hindsight Social Media is benefit to businesses only if the risks are identified, mitigated, managed and monitored.

DO YOU THINK BUSINESSES PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA SECURITY?

Let me know in the comment section your thoughts.

Sources:

Church, J. (9th March, 2018). Business 2 Community. 7 Social Media Security Issues Your Business Faces. Retrieved December 4th, 2018 from https://www.business2community.com/cybersecurity/7-social-media-security-issues-business-faces-02024378