Effects Of Social Media On Cybercrime: Surveillance, Fake Profiles, And Social Engineering
People in the current generation widely use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. The platforms are used as a means of communication, sharing of photos and other information, and also some people use the internet to search for jobs. Social media has made it easier for people to do just about anything whereby it has become part of people lives. People can conduct business online, can interact with their friends and families. Due to the increased usage of social media, criminals have emerged at a higher rate. Hackers have taken advantage of the platform to conduct their criminal activities. There are different types of social media attacks that hackers use to indulge in cybercrime activities. For instance, surveillance, fake profiles, social engineering, to mention a few. This paper will discuss on the cause, the different types hackers use, and how to prevent one to become a victim.
There are many causes that lead to cybercrime in social media platform. Individuals use the media to share their life experiences, their lifestyle, and some go ahead and overshare their financial details. Hackers use this opportunity by gathering the information provided in the social media. The criminals can use the information to generate a large amount of money, or they can use the collected information to threaten the victim or other ways for self-gain. Since many users are unaware of this malicious attack, they end up being a victim. Another cause is that the user tends to click on anything shown in the media. Some of the adverts are a scam which snares the user without his or her knowledge. There is a different type of social media attacks. Reconnaissance is a passive type that the hacker uses to survey the targeted individuals. They monitor their lifestyle, location, their relationship life. Once they have all the information needed, hackers use it for their advantage. The act is done without user knowledge. Hackers can use the information about the user to manipulate him or her.
Secondly, cyber terrorism is another type of social media attack. The main target is the government and large scale organizations. Terrorists use the internet to create a feeling of terror, panic in the victim's mind, to recruit new member, and to plan and conduct any criminal activities. The attacks can lead to loose of lives, damages of properties, and disruption of the normal operations of the nation.
Thirdly, is identity theft. Primary targets are the individuals who use the internet to transact money by either buying goods or paying any services offered to them. The hacker steals the user identity by obtaining the information given on the media. The debit card account information is acquired and used to either purchase goods or siphon money from the card. The user suffers a great loss, and if the situation is not solved early, the users, social media account might be destroyed.
Computer vandalism involves destroying data in victim computers and hindering business activities. A hacker may erase hard drive data or acquiring login credentials by the use of malicious programs. Hackers can conduct this to get revenge; maybe the victim annoyed him or her in one way or the other. The victim suffers a great loose of data which may cost him or her to get it back. Moreover, criminals can use fake profiles to attack big companies. The hacker might want a phony profile from one of the prominent social media users and use it to lure individual in the targeted company to acquire the information needed, to gain access to systems. Other social media attacks are cyberbullying, which is mostly done by teenagers. The hackers can either post threats, rumor, and personal information about the victims. The act is done to threaten the victim, or to revenge. The victim undergoes frustration, depression, low self-esteem, and sometimes the victim may end up committing a suicidal act. In the case of lowering self-esteem, the teenagers’ school progress might deteriorate. Increase in cyberbullying has created a lot of concern in the society. In that case, teenagers are advised to report the incidence if it ever occurs to the nearest adult for help.
Social engineering is another social media attack used by hackers. The hackers can use different types of social engineering to lure users into acquiring the needed information. The gathered information is then used by the hacker to know more about the user's interest and how they can attack. One of the ways is through phishing. Phishing involves grabbing of information through the use of emails. The hacker creates an email and sent it to the user. When the user receives the email, the user might be enticed to click on it. Once the user clicks on the link provided in the email, the link takes the user to a fake website. After logging in, all the login credentials are sent to the hacker. Other social engineering is the use of spam messages. Hackers use this to spread malware to the user's devices. For instance, the hacker can create a letter and sent it to the user with the title ‘send this to five friends and get 10gb free bundles'. If the user submits the message to the five people and the process continues, then the spread of the malware would be a success. Hackers also use baiting as another way in social engineering. The criminal entices the user into buying a device for the instance, USB which contains viruses. Once the user buys it and goes ahead using it, the germs will automatically transfer to the computer. The hacker will have the opportunity to hack the device.
Prevention is better than cure. Since hackers have managed to come up with new techniques which do not only involve financial theft, the user should learn how to prevent them from the victim. The first step is to take precaution when using any platform. Users should be careful when join groups, clicking on any adverts. When creating an account, they should create a secure and complex password. The user should avoid sharing the password to any individual. There should not be a repetition of the same password on any other sites. The user should change the password frequently. Another way of prevention is ensuring that the software is regularly. Updating software is essential for security purpose. Updating your software will remove any bugs and repair all security holes. It is easy for hackers to hack a device when the software has flaws. The updated software also helps to protect your data. The information in the device is precious to the criminal. With the help of the latest version, it will help to keep the hackers away.
Users should restrict themselves from oversharing their information to the public. They should first consider whom to share with, what to share. They also should avoid using public Wi-Fi. Through this, hackers can quickly get access to their data. The parents should keep an eye to their children and teach them matters concerning the internet. Children are the most targeted tools used by hackers to acquire information needed. On the other hand, the user should know what they should do if they become the victim. They should go who to contact as soon as possible to avoid further damage. To conclude, cybercrime is a matter that should not be taken lightly. Criminals have found new ways to facilitate their criminal activities, mostly targeting social media users. Social media has become day-to-day activities whereby most people cannot end the day without using the internet, whether in business or chatting with friends and families. The different type of social media attacks discussed above, such as surveillance, identity theft, social engineering, and computer vandalism has caused a lot of damage and loose of data to the victims. However, individuals are encouraged to protect themselves from such an attack. There are different ways to protect a user from a cybercrime attack. For instance, creating strong passwords, updating software, minimizing what to share with the public. Cybercrime should be a concern to all users, and they should take the measures early before it is too late.
