A recent piece of research, released by Proofpoint, has revealed that a significant number of the social media accounts claiming to be from Fortune 100 are actually unauthorised and fake. Mark James talks about what corporations can do to reduce Social Media threats.
The research claims that “social spam” has grown a whopping 658% since mid-2013 and that large brands experience at least one compromise on their social media channels every day.According to the research 40% of Facebook accounts and 20% of Twitter accounts claiming to represent Fortune 100 brands are fake.
Mark James, ESET security specialist, gives his advice on what can be done about social media malware.
“The Trust Factor”
“The biggest problem with social media is the trust factor involved from people we know or more importantly “think” we know.”
Mark explains that “adverts from supposedly well-known companies ranging from Apple to Tesco offering free goods or vouchers,” are simply too good to be true.
“At the very root of all this is good user education: understanding that links or media available through Facebook are not harmless and how these can lead to malware being allowed full reign on company networks due to one user “accidentally” trying to watch the latest cringe worthy celebrity fall out video.”
“An Excellent Tool”
“Social media is an excellent tool when used correctly but account security has to be paramount, regular password changes are a must alongside regulated admin access that is monitored,” Mark advises.
“Staff need to know what they can and cannot do on Facebook and fully understand how attacks happen what to look out for.”
He continues by saying that “your staff are the best people to monitor your Facebook activity” but advises that you “make sure they have someone to report inaccuracies too or any types of strange behaviour.”
General Advice
Mark also offers some general advice for spotting the bad eggs on social media.
“Quite often the average user simply does not understand the dangers of liking or clicking fake ads and explaining these clearly will help others to understand.
“Often they tease with contests or giveaways that ask for personal info in return for gifts or prizes that just don’t exist.
“Always check grammar, logos and spelling before clicking company pages to ensure they are the real owner of page.
“Always try to keep up with Facebooks own security policies as quite often they provide many ways for you to ensure its legit, after all they want you to be safe so you use their product.”
Keep an eye on our LinkedIn group for more blog posts.
Have you ever clicked on a fake Facebook ad? What is your company’s policy on Facebook and social media?