A few carelessly thrown comments on social media can create more problems than you could ever dream of.
There's no denying that social media is humanity's greatest achievement. They help people find lost friends, share the latest news, ask for help, resolve business matters, and simply while away an evening. According to statistics, more than 35 percent of all internet users are registered on at least one social media service.
However, the deep penetration of social media into everyday life poses a significant danger. Unfortunately, most users are extremely careless about the information they share publicly. The consequences of this can be wide-ranging, but in the worst case, you could lose your job or even be robbed, not in the virtual world, but in the real world.
In this article, we'll cover what's highly recommended to avoid posting on social media to avoid trouble.
1. Passwords and logins
It may seem silly, but social networks are often used to store and share logins and passwords. It's hard to say what people are thinking when they send such data to their family or friends. Moreover, users often voluntarily give away their passwords to the social network itself. Who can guarantee that the recipient won't decide to bring up an old grudge in a couple of months and turn your profile into a collection of incriminating evidence? No one. So be careful. If circumstances force you to give up your password, be sure to change it as soon as possible.
2. Code words and phrases
The answers to the security questions you use to recover forgotten passwords also shouldn't be stored on social media. Surprisingly, most users don't even think about this when they add their mother's maiden name or school name to their profile. Yet the answers to these questions are the most popular keywords used to recover accounts or, for example, when contacting a bank.
3. Personal messages
On social media, people can exchange messages by posting posts, pictures, and videos on what's known as a “wall.” Remember that your “wall” is visible to other users, so never post personal messages there. It often happens that information you think would be appropriate for your “wall” can be harmful to the recipient. There are no universal recommendations here, but just keep this in mind.
4. Address and telephone number
Never leave your home address and phone number publicly available. Criminals will know where to find you, especially if they suspect you won't be home at certain times. Learn about
This can be found in your own messages – the next point is dedicated to this.
5. Plans for the near future
Avoid sharing your evening or weekend plans with the world. It's quite possible that someone will be interested in this information and take advantage of your absence in one place or, conversely, presence in another. Even party guests should be invited via private messages or a closed group, rather than a wall.
6. Personal financial information
Your well-being shouldn't be anyone's business but yours. Therefore, it's best to avoid even hinting at how much you earn, when you get paid, where you keep your savings, or how often you visit an ATM. At first glance, this might seem harmless, until you encounter someone who knows how to turn casually left messages into priceless ones.
7. Company Information
According to statistics from Sophos, a company that deals with information security issues, about 63
percent of organizations are concerned that their employees might post valuable information online, such as business development plans. An example is
Microsoft: Journalists periodically manage to obtain information through employee profiles on the social network Linkedin
Find out the company's plans several months before their official announcement. Don't let your employer down: leaking confidential data can lead to layoffs and administrative prosecution.
8. Photos of children
Having photos of your children publicly available also doesn't bode well. And we're not just talking about pedophiles who might use them for their own purposes. This point is closely intertwined with point 4: if you leave a message saying you'll be away for the weekend, but someone is left at home
only a child (whose photo is available in the gallery), then his safety may be at risk
a big threat.
9. Be aware of aggregators
Keep in mind that information from your profile, including information private to casual visitors, may be aggregated by other services. Therefore, if photos from a big party you threw on the day you called in sick are leaked somewhere else, there's a very real chance you'll be fired. Moreover, such incidents have happened before.
10. Don't publish anything you don't want to.
This point follows from the previous one. Remember that even if your profile privacy settings are cranked up to the max, there's no guarantee that the information you post won't leak. Suffice it to say that, according to research from the University of Virginia, 90 percent of Facebook apps in the top 150 most popular apps have access to your sensitive information. Why they need it is a mystery. But it's a perfect illustration of how absolutely any data stored online can be accessed by third parties with sufficient effort.
