DON’T CLICK ON ANYTHING YOU DON’T KNOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Facebook has been one of the most guilty social media sites to lead hackers into finding out security questions. Having access to these answers can lead hackers to obtain information, such as bank accounts and important data within your systems causing your cybersecurity tactics to become more vulnerable. We’re here to help you understand why answering questions and clicking links can actually put your data at risk!
“Did You Know” Questions
Facebook has these questions that are supposed to be fun for everyone to get to know each other. One thing that can lead to it though is getting information within the answers to be able to answer security questions. Answering about your first dog, where you were born, or anything with personal information will lead to figuring out security questions for bank accounts, credit card information, and even billing information! They seem to be fun when you first answer them, but when the wrong person gets their hands on that kind of information, it can lead to more severe accounts that can be compromised and information being stolen.
The posts that ask what was your first grade teacher, who was your childhood best friend, your first car, the place you [were] born, your favorite place, your first pet, where did you go on your first flight … Those are the same questions asked when setting up accounts as security questions. You are giving out the answers to your security questions without realizing it! Hackers can use these questions to build a profile and hack into your accounts or open lines of credit causing a breach!
Facebook Quizzes
“At What Age Will I Be Married?”
“Can We Guess Your Age?”
“What Character Are You From The Simpsons?”
These kinds of questions will get you to click on them for curiosity, but it can actually be dangerous to click on those links! Readers Digest confirmed Facebook quizzes may lead you to a website with dangerous downloads, or have malicious links and possible viruses included in the questions. In 2019, CNN reported how this practice was used in a scandal. Ukrainian hackers used Facebook quizzes to install malicious browser extensions. Better Business Bureau issued an alert just this past year advising against taking Facebook quizzes. Protect yourself and your information by only clicking links that you are familiar with and trust! just say no to online personality tests or any seemingly innocent game that asks questions. All those clicks and taps give away your information!
Social Media Personality Quizzes
Any sort of personality quiz needs to be done through a reputable source. Seeing them on social media should be the red flag that makes you stay away from them!
Posting personal information on social media is never the best option, but having it posted on a website that you can share on social media can cause hackers to retrieve information that you didn’t want to be accessed. This goes on to explain security questions. Hackers will try to use different forms of quizzes to retrieve information. Asking how old you are, D.O.B., your full name, where you were born, and everything in between will give someone access to your most personal information.
Using all the sources, social media is one of the easiest ways for an attack to happen. Once you give someone all the information they need, they will go ahead and use it for their own malicious attacks.
Always make sure you’re keeping safe, use Multi-Factor Authentication for your sites (social media has it), and don’t click on links that you’re not familiar with!
Click here to learn more about PCS.