The Changing Threat Landscape

A threat in the social media landscape works differently than in traditional IT security. If you are an IT security manager today, you are accustomed to a variety of threats to corporate data and networks, including hackers trying to break through your firewall, viruses and malware in e-mails or on suspicious websites, insiders trying to steal company information, and your company’s exposure to corporate espionage activities. While these threats continue to exist as before, social media has opened new avenues and possibilities for these threats and for new types of risks to occur.

The threat landscape has changed pretty quickly as compared to most IT concerns. The new technologies and processes employed in social media have exposed companies to new risks. For example, ten years ago identity theft was about someone gaining access to your credit by physically stealing a credit card or stealing a credit application when you tried to get financing to buy a car. Even then, it was difficult to obtain all your information successfully. But today, identity theft has become easier because people give away their information more freely on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. The threat is now based on how social platforms collect information and on what motivates people to give away their sensitive data. For example, some password recovery systems require people to answer a personal question, such as their mother’s maiden name, their birth date, or the name of their favorite teacher. And yet this type of information is often the same banks request from customers when they call in to check on their accounts. Over time, social networks gather increasing amounts of information about users as the users themselves interact more through status updates, social games, and by simply filling out their own profiles more completely. This means that not only is the sanctity of their identity dependent on the social network’s security environment, but also their identity is increasingly unveiled in more detail to their contacts and acquaintances on their social networks.