To users of LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or all of the above: Are you guilty of one of these security oversights? Some of you are using all of the above, and using them hard, even IT security practitioners who know better. While it's impossible to escape every social networking threat out there, there are steps one can take to significantly reduce the risks. CSO, a provider of news, analysis and research on a broad range of security and risk management topics (CSOonline.com) recently* checked in with dozens of IT security professionals (ironically, using more than one social networking platform to do so) to pinpoint seven typical security mistakes people make; and how to avoid them.
1. Over-sharing company activities
This is a sin of pride, when someone gets excited about something their company is working on and simply must tell everyone about it. Maybe you work for a drug company that is on the verge of developing the cure for cancer. Maybe the company is developing a new car that runs on curbside trash -- in other words, something everyone will want.
By sharing too much about you or your employer's intellectual property, you threaten to put it out of business by tipping off a competitor who could then find a way to duplicate the effort or find a way to spoil what they can't have by hiring a hacker to penetrate the network or by sneaking a spy into the building. To reign in the urge to share too much, it might be useful to repeat this saying, which has started to appear in the public domain: "Loose Tweets Sink Fleets."
2. Mixing personal with professional
This sin is closely related to the first, but extends beyond the mere disclosure of proprietary data. This is the case where someone uses a social network for both business and pleasure, most commonly on Facebook, where one's friends include business associates, family members and friends.
The problem is that the language and images one shares with friends and family may be entirely inappropriate on the professional side. A prospective employer may choose to skip to the next candidate after seeing pictures of you drunk or showing off a little too much leg at someone's birthday party. In sharing such things, you also stand a good chance of making the company you represent look bad. You have to understand what the objective of your presence on any given social network is. If it is for work, keep it for work only. If it is for personal/fun use, keep it for personal use only.
3. Engaging in Tweet (or Facebook/LinkedIn/Myspace) rage
For the person who has just been laid off or had their professional integrity called into question online, the urge to fire back with a stream of vitriol can be irresistible. Call this a sin of wrath.
Be mindful of what you say; any and all parties are listening, including your boss, spouse or future employer. Posting any content when angry is about as dangerous as sending flaming emails, if not more so. Think twice about clicking 'submit' because the world may be looking at your angry, immature rant for years.
4. Believing he/she who dies with the most connections wins
For some social networkers, it's all about accumulating as many connections as possible. Folks on LinkedIn are notorious for doing this, especially those in such LinkedIn groups as TopLinked and LION. This may seem harmless enough or, at the worst, just annoying. But when the name of the game is quantity over quality, it's easy to link or "friend" a scam artist, terrorist or identity thief.
Always verify the person who wants to get in contact with you. If you do not know the person, why are they trying to connect with you? Check if the profile of the other person is secured. If you can't retrieve a list of that person's connections, you have to ask yourself if you really want to go down that road. It is far better and safer to have 50 relevant contacts than 500 unknowns.
5. Password sloth
Another common sin is one of laziness, in this case picking passwords for your social networks that you're least likely to forget. In many cases, that means using the same password for LinkedIn and Facebook that you're using for your online bank account or work machine. If someone with malicious intent figures out the password for one social network, that person can now go and access everything else.
Using the same password on several sites is like trusting the weakest link in a chain to carry the same weight. Every site has vulnerabilities, plan for them to be exploited.
6. Trigger finger (clicking everything, especially on Facebook)
Facebook in particular is notorious as a place where inboxes are stuffed with everything from drink requests to cause requests. For some social networkers, clicking on such requests is as natural as breathing. Unfortunately, the bad guys know this and will send you links that appear to be from legitimate friends. Open the link and you're inviting a piece of malware to infect your machine. You should not click any link unless you're ready to deal with drive-by downloads and zero-day attacks.
7. Endangering yourself and others
All of the above tie into the seventh and perhaps most serious sin, which is that reckless social networking can literally put someone's life in danger. It could be a relative or co-worker. Or it could be yourself. Security experts advise extreme caution when posting birthday information, too much detail on your spouse and children, etc. Otherwise, they could become the target of an identity thief or even a kidnapper.
At the CSO Executive Seminar on Data Loss Prevention in Chicago, last month, Motorola CSO Bill Boni expressed his reservations about using Twitter, calling it a great way to get one's self kidnapped. "Don't be a twit," Boni said to those who might feel the need to divulge every detail about their location and what they're doing.
* adapted from an article by Bill Brenner, Senior Editor, CSO June 30, 2009
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