When it comes to social networking, many people seem to be happy to surrender their privacy by sharing just about anything that comes to mind. The tendency to overshare information online is now rapidly making its way into the corporate world too.
You owe it to your company to set strict rules on what your employees can and cannot share online, particularly with regard to potentially sensitive corporate information. After all, there have been an increasing number of cases when employees from sales staff to high-level executives have unwittingly ended up tipping off competitors by publishing content that really shouldn’t be exposed to the public.
With more companies using social media as a tool for collaboration and marketing, it’s easier than ever to run into trouble. As such, you should train your employees to better understand the risks and not rely on the privacy settings provided by platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Instead, employees should consider the image they’re portraying with every post they publish.
Overcoming the Dangers of Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is one of the most widespread and dangerous forms of cyberattack affecting the corporate world. The reason these attacks are so dangerous is that they can, in many cases, effortlessly penetrate even well-defended networks by using targeted social engineering tactics. These attacks are aimed toward specific individuals within a company, particularly executives and employees working in sales or human resources departments.
What makes spear phishing attacks so effective is that they build trust by demonstrating knowledge about the target. These cybercriminals know the names and, oftentimes, a lot more information about their victims, simply because they reveal far too much about themselves on public platforms like Facebook. Attackers will tap into this wealth of information to create personalized phishing messages that appear to come from trusted sources, such as a specific colleague, customer or partner.
By contrast, normal phishing attacks typically involve sending out spam emails en-masse in the hope that someone will be gullible enough to fall into the trap. Spear phishing, on the other hand, is a far more sophisticated method that involves conducting extensive research into the company and/or individual to carry out elaborate heists. However, many successful spear phishing attacks still arrive by email and may be verified simply by calling the person that the message is purporting to be from.
Protecting Your Business’s Reputation
According to business magnate Warren Buffet, it takes 20 years to build a reputation but only five minutes to destroy it. In a world where anyone can say anything they want about your company on social media in a post that could go viral at any moment, it’s more important than ever to be mindful about what you and others say online. This goes for everyone in your business, both in terms of how they portray your corporate image and what they say about themselves.
Of course, it would be unreasonable for any company to try to dictate what its staff do and say in their own free time, but they should still be under contractual obligation not to share any confidential or potentially sensitive information. There’s also no harm in educating your employees on the best practices for sharing on social media in every aspect of their lives – you’ll be doing both them and your business a favor.
While it’s usually the human element that’s the weakest link when it comes to safeguarding an organization’s reputation and keeping its data away from prying eyes, having a robust cybersecurity solution in place is also crucial. Dyrand Systems provides the full range of IT services for protecting your business and setting it up for future growth. Talk with our experts today to find out more.