Security News

Social media as a threat channel saw a two-fold increase in attacks throughout 2021, according to a report from PhishLabs. In Q4 and throughout 2021, PhishLabs analysed hundreds of thousands of phishing and social media attacks targeting enterprises, their employees, and brands.

"From the earliest days of online information to the rapid evolution of today's metaverses, the internet has come a long way. However, this latest data shows that it is more under attack than ever before," said Arkose Labs CEO Kevin Gosschalk. The latest research took a deep dive into UK business specifically to understand which sectors were the most attacked by online criminals.

As revealed by the FTC, over 95,000 US consumers reported losses of roughly $770 million after getting scammed on social media platforms. "More than one in four people who reported losing money to fraud in 2021 said it started on social media with an ad, a post, or a message. In fact, the data suggest that social media was far more profitable to scammers in 2021 than any other method of reaching people." the FTC said.

While the context of my article involved recreational social media, it's just as critical to protect yourself on business social media such as LinkedIn. Adrien Gendre, chief product officer at Vade, a cybersecurity company, said, "The risk of oversharing on social media lies not only in what you share publicly, but also what you share with the platforms privately. For example, when setting up a social media account, you might include your birthdate, which helps hackers since many people include their date of birth in their passwords."

Social media has become an integral part of modern communications, providing valuable information to businesses and individuals. Social media platforms deliver a lot of helpful, actionable information for both professional and personal use.

One solution to the friction conundrum that has been introduced in recent years comes in the form of social media background checks. As a simple case in point, an email address that was created very recently and is not associated with any social media profiles is more likely to be linked to attempted fraud, so the user's private and payment information ought to be checked more carefully, including potentially asking them for pictures or biometric data.

Phishing remains the dominant attack vector for bad actors, growing 31.5 percent over 2020, according to a PhishLabs report. Notably, attacks in September 2021 were more than twice as high as the previous year.

The Ministry of Defence has published a data strategy that calls on the British armed forces to make better use of its "Enduring strategic asset" - by spying on social media and dobbing in dissenters to local councils. In a move bound to fuel tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists, the MoD's Data Strategy for Defence document [PDF] published this week says the military ought to be carrying out "Automated scanning of social media platforms" to detect "Change in population sentiment."

The questions have gotten more sophisticated and less suspicious. I've noticed a significant uptick in Facebook questions that ask users to answer seemingly innocent questions one wouldn't think could put anyone in danger.

Los Angeles police are instructed to collect social media details from people they stop and talk to, even if those civilians aren't suspected of breaking the law, according to documents finally revealed after a lengthy legal battle. The Brennan Center for Justice, a non-profit law and public policy institute at New York University, early last year submitted a request [PDF] under the California Public Records Act for information on LAPD's use of social media to monitor people and groups.