Social media has become an essential tool for business marketing, increasing the public’s awareness of companies’ services and products. However, there are safety and security issues that may arise from the use of social media. Many IT professionals believe that social media threats are harder to deal with than those originating from emails. They are summarized below to help you get up to speed.

Setting Privacy

Updating privacy settings should be done very regularly. Your company’s social media page may be targeted for data and identity theft. As it isn’t possible to verify all your company’s fans and friends, update privacy settings and use strong passwords on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Protecting Data

Protecting your company’s data is paramount and using encryption is a must. This will prevent cyber criminals from accessing sensitive data. Data loss prevention (DLP) suites are also recommended for endpoint systems. They help prevent the attachment of harmful files and content.

Stopping Hackers

The most common attacks on Facebook involve phishing, fake pages, click jacking, worms, and rogue apps. Twitter is a social network that has many users who are not legitimate. Threats come in the form of cropped URLs and phishing scams that conceal malevolent purposes that may damage or take advantage of your company.

Erring Employees

According to IT professionals, the weakest link in company social media may be employees. They often display terrible judgment by clicking suspicious links and are often careless about opening applications that deliver malware, viruses, and spyware. Workers may also unknowingly share corporate information that’s privileged and confidential with hackers. Your company should appoint an administrator who educates employees and enforces social media policy.

Using Antivirus Software

Install tested, recommended antivirus software. Check out av-test.org, an independent institute, for recommendations. Your company will need one that provides real time protection, security patches, active web defense, and a robust firewall. Software that scans and decodes links to ensure their authenticity is also essential.

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