Our first UK Channel Community Meeting will take place in Leeds later this month, where we will examine a raft of challenges facing channel organisations up and down the country. As part of that, we’ll be taking a special look at cyber security, and what businesses can do to remain safe in today’s IT climate.
Our first keynote speaker of the year will be David Benford MSc, managing director at Blackstage Forensics Limited, who will talk about security risks you'll want to be aware of when using social media, and how to mitigate against them. He'll bring with his extensive experience advising businesses and governments, and will also address some of the concerns attendees may have.
Social media is one of the key avenues businesses can use to communicate with their audiences. While this is a valuable means of engagement, using it is not without its risks. The fact that a majority of social media access is done via mobile devices, which readily give up location data, means it is relatively easy for a criminal to isolate an individual and determine their whereabouts, habits and personal relationships. This vulnerability can make them vectors for attacks on their employers and even families. It’s not unheard of for perpetrators to leverage this information to hold people ransom, demand access to a company’s network, or even worse.
Most people are not aware that the majority of their online activity contributes to their overall digital footprint, and social media use and mobile data comprise a huge part of that. We need to raise more awareness of the pitfalls out there—social media hygiene is important not just for the individual but for businesses as well.
A few tips for staying safe:
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Be aware. Think about your browsing history and what you’re posting online, and remember that everything you do contributes to your online footprint. Look at your historic data (items like old Facebook posts) and think about what someone could determine about you from those posts.
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Understand it’s not just check-ins that reveal your online location—images you post online could have geotags in them. These pieces of seemingly secure information are in actuality very easy to obtain through the use of freely available software.
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Remember that apps on phones connect to other mobile devices to share data (this is how suggested friends on Facebook works). If you are running a company’s profile from your phone, you may want to connect via browser instead of apps to ensure your information remains securely protected.
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Be cautious about what you communicate on social media. Would you broadcast the fact that you’re going to certain events on LinkedIn, for example? If a company director says they're speaking at a conference, just about anyone who cares to look will know where they will (and won’t) be.
These are just a few tips to get started improving your personal security habits. To hear more about how to remain safe when using social media, come join us at CompTIA’s UKCC Leeds meeting on 23-24 February, where David will discuss this topic in extensive detail. Click here to register.
