Is Facebook Safe Anymore?

Introduction

What's going on everybody? This is Neadom Tucker, Owner of Kotori Technologies.
Today we are going to be talking about: Is Facebook safe anymore?

My Background

I've got over twenty years of experience in the IT and Security industry.
We’re going to take a look at what Facebook has access to in your business—and for yourself.

Facebook: A Social Tool with Risks

Honestly, Facebook is a social media platform for people to stay connected.
So, if you want to stay connected to your friends and relatives—yeah, stay on Facebook. But be safe about it.

Facebook just released an issue they had back in January where developers had access to your passwords.
Nothing was leaked out as they know of right now.
But again, this information was readily available to anybody in Facebook who had access to it.
Not really something I’d want out there.

Should you be on there?
It really depends on what you're trying to do.
I'm on Facebook. I keep track of some of my friends who are out of state.
It’s a great tool—you just have to be really careful about the information you're sharing online with your friends and friends of friends.

How Hackers Use Facebook

Hackers get your information through social media in a number of ways.
One of the most recent attacks was from a group in Ukraine using Facebook quizzes to gather information.
Things like “What movie star would you be?” or “What superhero would you be?”
They sound fun—and they are—because you get to post your results and your friends take the quiz too.

But they’re gathering information about you to use in what’s called a Social Engineering Attack.
That means getting more info about you to befriend you, get even more info, and potentially hack you—maybe to get your credit card info or install tracking software on your computer.

Fake Profiles and Friend Requests

Another method is through fake profiles.
Someone might create a Facebook profile that looks like a friend of yours—but it’s not.
To prevent this, be cautious about who you accept friend requests from.
Do some research. Look at the profile.
If everything is public but there’s not much content, it might not be a real user.

If they’re new to Facebook, it’s harder to tell.
I usually just ignore those requests now.

Locking Down Your Profile

Lock your profile down to only allow friends to see your content.
Only allow people you accept to be friends.
That’s one way to stay secure.

It’ll be harder for people to find you, so you’ll have to initiate friend requests.
But it helps prevent “friends of friends” from accessing your info.

You can’t control who your friends befriend.
So lock your profile to “friends only.”
That way, if your friend befriends a hacker, they can’t get to you.

Also, be very aware of who you’re sharing your information with.
Check your privacy settings.
Make sure it’s safe for you to be on Facebook.

Final Thoughts

Yes, you should still be on Facebook—if you want to stay connected to your friends.
But you have to take the lead in keeping your information secure.
That’s up to you. Not anybody else.

Use strong passwords.
Enable two-factor authentication—Facebook supports it now.
That’ll help prevent your account from being hacked.

Wrap-Up

Well guys, that sums up this week.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Hope you got some information out of it.
And we’ll see you next time. Take care.

For more tips contact Kotori Technologies today!