Social media risks for business

Social media has become incredibly important, in and outside of work. Most people use social media daily to share photos and updates, connect with friends, and stay up to date with the latest news and trends. Similarly, many businesses rely on social media to help drive revenue and build brand awareness by attracting both customers and potential employees.

However, the importance of social media doesn’t come without its challenges. Cybercriminals leverage the power of social media to launch cyber-attacks and scams designed to damage your reputation or gain access to confidential information. In fact, new research suggests that one in five organizations have been infected with malware distributed through a social media platform. This is partly due to the nature of social media, whereby users are more open to being unexpectedly approached by new people. Plus, the ability to easily connect and share with others makes it the perfect place for spam and malware to spread.

This article covers the social media risks for businesses and how to mitigate them, keeping your employees safe online.

1. Facebook scams

With over 2.6 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media app globally. It is also the biggest threat to business security and is the preferred target for aggressive spam attacks. These spam attacks often take over a user’s Facebook profile and post unsolicited advertisements or graphic and disturbing content designed to shock.

Commonly, these spam attacks will encourage Facebook users to click a malicious link. This will then enable scammers to repost the unsolicited content on to your Facebook timeline, creating a snowball effect of annoying and potentially offensive spam. If hacked employee Facebook accounts are linked back to your business, this could impact your reputation.

2. Twitter scams

Similar scams also occur via Twitter. Scammers will set up fake accounts which will follow people at random, often posing as an attractive women to entice users to follow them back. If you do follow their account, they will likely send an intriguing direct message with a link that will allow them to post from your account if you click it.

These scams could easily become a security threat to businesses. There is nothing to stop scammers from manipulating you into browsing malicious websites or downloading malicious content that could take over your computer. If this were to happen in the workplace, the ramifications could be severe.

3. Compliance breaches

If your employees are running and managing your social media accounts on behalf of your business, there’s always a risk they might release confidential data. Communicating sensitive information could cause you to breach certain laws and compliance regulations, including infringement of trademarks and copyrights, data security issues, and violations of privacy rights. As such, you could be faced with hefty fines from the authorities, as well as a negative impact to your brand and reputation.

4. Damage to your reputation

Consumer opinions can spread extremely quickly through social media. So, you need to have a crisis plan in place to manage negative reviews and comments, as well as ensuring social media channels are regularly monitored. Likewise, employees could accidentally share something inappropriate that could be linked back to your business. Anything from setting unrealistic service expectations, to rogue or unprofessional messages, can have an enormous impact on your business and its reputation, especially if they come directly from your employees.