Lose lips sink ship, an old war-time poster tagline which could be still applicable to businesses that are cultivating a social media presence.
Posts and conversations we have over social networking sites could potentially leave bits and pieces of information that cyber criminals can piece together to vital company information or decipher passwords, or launch a malware attack against your company, according to Catalin Cosoi, Romania-based researcher for the anti-virus software firm BitDefender.
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In a recent interview with ITBusiness.ca senior reporter Brian Jackson, Cosoi noted that increasing adoption of social media tools by individuals and businesses has provided data thieves another channel to get at private and corporate information.
“Information you post online about where you work or what you do can be seen by almost anyone and could be used against your company,” said Cosoi.
The researcher warned, even innocuous photos taken at the company picnic and posted on a photo sharing site could lead to a phishing attack. You might one day received an email from someone with a name you recognize inviting you to click on a link of photos taken of you on that event, said Cosoi.
“Clicking on that link could lead you to a site hosting malware or end up in a phishing attack,” Cosoi said.
In the video below, Cosoi discusses further with Jackson other social media threats and how you can protect yourself and your company against them.