Social Media Platforms Pose Huge Risks for Employers; Some Tips For Mitigation

In 2016, when Twitter and Pinterest failed to secure Mark Zuckerberg’s account information, it may have been cold comfort to know the “Facebook King” is human too. Irony aside, social media platforms are increasingly becoming a favorite haunt for cybercriminals. There’s a great reason for that; it works very well. Organizations of all types are left scrambling to educate employees and find technical solutions to the real risks social media presents to their security. Viable and effective options are surfacing in the struggle for companies to stay protected from various cyberthreats.

Some things to consider implementing in your organization's cybersecurity strategy include:

• Alerting employees that using personal social media accounts at work may enable hackers easy access to your company’s network. Likewise, using a personal smartphone for work tasks also leaves room for compromise.

• Educating your workforce that scammers know how to fake work contacts on LinkedIn and other social media websites. With someone posing as a co-worker, they may be more likely to send vulnerable information.

• Securing your organization's public profile. Many companies also rely on their image to gain clients and market their products and services to the world. Social media provides an invaluable platform for them to do that. The downside is that hackers break into companies' social media accounts, creating financial havoc and public relations nightmares.

• Create conduct codes for employees to follow. The codes address strict security rules to adhere to, including password usage and policies regarding social media access. 

• Implement multi-step verification to gain access to social media sites. This is proving an effective option for both personal and work accounts. The multi verification (also referred to as multifactor authentication) step provides a double dose of password security that hackers don’t plan on. Should the first password be hacked, access is still denied by the second secure layer.

Effective cyber security practices may be most effective if shared by the employee and the employer. Education and strict online guidelines for workers are just one part of a much bigger picture. Combining this with enhanced security methods for companies using social media platforms and the employees who use them at work may just be the answer.