IMPACT OF CYBER CRIME AND SECURITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The rise and evolution of social media has changed the definition of communication and social interaction. Different social media platforms like Facebook and twitter have brought a revolutionary change the way we used to use Internet for both personal and professional purpose. There is no doubt or space to deny the effective impact of these social media platforms on our regular life, professional life, and even on our business. Every good this has some drawbacks and loopholes, and it is advised to be aware about those loopholes before getting trapped inside of those loopholes. Online or cyber security is one such issue which is directly involved with the uses and impacts of social media networks.

Risk Factors and Threats of Using Social Media

The concept of cyber security came in front when the number of Internet users are started increasing around the world and people are involved with online financial transactions. The term cyber crime is confirmed as the official crime term as criminals started getting more aggressive over the online and becoming a threat for millions of Internet users. Social Medias are considered as part of life for a major portion of Internet users. Almost every internet users have at least one or more accounts in different social media platforms. The risk factors of social Medias can be categorized to the following categories.

Identity theft is the key threat to many social media users, as millions of online users use their personal information in order to getting registered with one or more social media platforms. Such huge information with personal data of so many people is one of the easiest targets for many cyber criminals. Many users are also provided information about their credit or debit card and use those cards to purchase different products, items or services through these social media platforms. This is why the cyber criminals around the world are continuously trying to get inside the personal details of many users from those social media platforms.

Some Precautions Which we all Must Follow

Many people have to pay the price after being the victim of cyber crime at different social media platforms. Many people even terminate and deactivate their social media account after such bad experiences.  It is not the solution to deactivate or terminate the account when we can minimize the risk of cyber attack on our social media profiles by following some easy principles. At first you must determine which information to share and which are not. Almost every social media platforms will give you the option to decide how much information you want to share with your friends and other people on that network. You can make you profile extremely private or extremely public as per your requirement.

If you're concerned about timing when you should adjust security settings, there's a convenient online alarm clock which people are using to alert themselves at various points throughout the day, which comes in handy in terms of waking yourself up during vulnerable times of night.  This online alarm will make sure you're up, and even provide you an intuitive means to hear sounds...it's great for situations such as this.

It is advised to customize the security setting of your social media profile at the time you are configuring your account for the first time and check those setting in a regular manner after a while. Be very selective and careful for both send and accept friend request, especially from unknown people. Be very careful when you are going to join any group over those social media platforms. Always try to verify the identity of any individual before you are going to send or accept any friend request. Avoid any request from those people, who are not known to you. Be very careful if you need to provide too much personal information during joining any group.

We can minimize the threat of cyber attack or cyber crime by getting a little aware and conscious while using social media platforms. It is possible to ensure the security of your personal data of those social media platforms with a very minimal effort. Do not share your password with any of your friends or colleagues or even on any online form. It is also suggested avoiding share information about your debit or credit card over these social media networks in order to avoid credit/debit card fraud, as well.

By Alphonce Bhoke  BAPRM 42527