Social media is important to an employees’ daily schedule. Social media describes platforms where people can connect with friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers. They include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The technological advancements in various sectors influence social media and have helped platforms to do more than they could in the past. This progress has led to the development of issues like Cybersecurity.

Most people believe Cybersecurity is something relevant to big corporations. They interpret it as a term that describes the protection of a company’s hardware or software from attack. While this is not a wrong definition, it is incomplete because Cybersecurity affects all Internet-connected systems; including your beloved social media account. Here are the ways Cybersecurity plays a role in social media and how to curb the issues that follow.

Too much exposure from employees

As a result of the flexibility of social media, employees think it is harmless to post certain information on their accounts. For example, an employee might post that he’s going for a meeting or that the meeting just ended. This information can be used to customize emails with malicious content or pique the interests of hackers. An organization’s information can also be mined from platforms like LinkedIn and used to target corporations.

The solution is to educate employees on what is suitable for social media consumption. They should use privacy settings on platforms like Facebook to guard sensitive information.

Using one administrator for social media presence

Some companies -especially smaller ones- use a single employee for all their social media accounts. This might be economical for the company but it puts the organization at risk if the employee is negligent. For example, if the employee links the company’s account to his/her personal account, the company will be at risk if someone hacks the employee’s account.

This security issue can be avoided if a team is assigned to the organization’s social media accounts. They should also be given rules against linking their personal accounts to this. Strong passwords are also necessary to improve security.

Identity theft

The personal information required on most social media platforms is highly personalized and puts users at risk of identity theft. However, only a few of these are compulsory to fill. To beef up your online security, avoid placing complete details on social media. This includes home address, company address, phone numbers, full names, and much more. Be smart about the details you place online and the kind of people that can view it.