The Risks of Having a Great Social Media Profile
Do You Have a Social Media Profile?
Traditional marketing advocates having up-to-date online profiles as a great way connect with like-minded people, attract job offers and promote your company or services to a worldwide community. Which is true, however serious security issues affecting online data recommend you reconsider what you share in promoting yourself or your business.
Risks of Promoting Yourself or Your Company Online
Do you have a LinkedIn Profile? Promoted as ‘the world’s largest professional network with more than 645+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide’, why wouldn’t you have a profile with them? It’s a fantastic platform to self-promote and connect.
However, whilst having a LinkedIn Profile is a good idea, a simple notification I received from them today reminded me why we all need to review what kind of information we share on our public profiles:
‘Sharon, people are looking at your LinkedIn profile’
‘See how well your profile stands out from the crowd.’
Usually, I get a little thrill and wonder if someone is checking me up after reading one of my blogs. Today, for the first time, I had a completely different thought because of research and facts I’ve been immersed in writing blogs on cyber crime.
Our online success has also become our weakness. Some of the world’s best ‘researchers’ aren’t looking at your social media profile because they are interested in your skills or business offering. Cyber criminals are really good at finding and collating together personal and business data posted online. That then enables hackers to target you, your company or contacts through email scams.
How much information could I pull together about you (full name, title, mobile number, email address) and your company from online sites? The more details that can be put together, the easier it is for someone with malicious intent to make you their online target.
Be Mindful About What Information You Share Online
Start by reviewing what information you can find about yourself and your company online. Could it open the door to an attack? Details such as your name, title and email address; your company name, names of senior management, titles, departments, etc; and customer details? If there is anything that you do not want a potential scammer to gather, do not post it.
Act now to have not just a great but, most importantly, safe social media profile by removing overly detailed or sensitive information. Also, make sure that you’ve configured privacy settings on your social media accounts to limit what others can see. And encourage your colleagues to be careful with the personal information they choose to share online.
Do You Want Reliable IT Support?
If you want to chat with one of our experts about your IT Support options, please ring us on 1800 10 3000, or email us at [email protected].