Science & Tech

Avoid these social media posts if you want to keep your data safe

Avoid these social media posts if you want to keep your data safe
Free Speech On Social Media
Indy

Keeping data safe online is a concern for everyone, and now a cybersecurity expert has given pointers on the social media posts we should all be avoiding.

Browsing Facebook and Twitter can be more dangerous than you’d think, it seems, with hackers attempting new ways to uncover sensitive information.

Security expert Javvad Malik who is behind security awareness at KnowBe4 has revealed the five types of posts we should all be wary of.

Javvad told The Sun: "Any information publicly posted can be used by criminals.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter.

"Even seemingly trivial information can be put together to build a better picture of the victim."

He added: "Broadly speaking, the most dangerous information that you can put out there relates to password reset questions - so things like mother's maiden name, schools, street, etc."

Javvad also said people should be wary about posting information on what they or their parents are doing, or anything about your personal history.

Picking out five specific types of post to avoid, he started by flagging posts that ask for information regarding personal identification such as date of birth, mother’s maiden name and address.

The second was anything revealing location, and the third was anything which invites you to join a third-party application or game.

The fourth is anything regarding posts from strangers which you are tagged in, with Javvad pointing out that it could be a phishing scam.

And finally, the fifth type of post was anything which revealed the location of where you work as it could lead to other members of your company or organisation being targeted.

Sounds like strong tips to us.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)