Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

 

The world has hailed social media as society’s great democratizer, giving a voice and power to the masses. But there are always enterprising criminals who find their way into a community where nearly twenty percent of the planet participates.

 

For example, people with personal blogs have become accustomed to sharing news of their travels and adventures with their followers. To the criminal this says that somewhere there is an empty house waiting to be plundered.

 

The exhibition industry has also embraced social media. Yet without a clear policy on how, when and why social media is used, we may be leaving an opportunity for thieves to steal valuable intelligence that could be devastating to our businesses.

 

The recent article posted by BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15553192, Titled “Socialbots used by researchers to steal Facebook data,” tells me that the threat to businesses like ours is real.

 

On the surface Socialbots may look harmless. They are easily disguised as a typical Facebook user.  But that is where it ends. Once befriended these e-criminals have access to such data as addresses, phone numbers and other personal information.

 

How easy is it for criminals to invade your social network? Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada sent out 8,570 requests to be friended by Facebook users. The surprising results were that even though these requests came from strangers, 3,055 were accepted.

 

What all this means is that we need to remain vigilant with how we use social media.

 

Have any of you experienced hints of nefarious actions with your use of social media?

 

Have you have a plan in place to protect valuable information?