Corporate social media risk alert

• Published date: 10 February 2023
• Publication title: Bangkok Post

Threats to corporate social media are evolving along with perpetrators' social engineering skills at a blistering pace. Sometimes their techniques reach such a high level that even the tech-savvy administrator of a corporate network can't tell the difference between a scam and the truth.

As many businesses use social media to promote their products and services, these threats are relevant to an increasingly large number of companies. To help them stay safe, Anna Larkina, Web content analysis expert, and Roman Dedenok, spam analysis expert at Kaspersky, offer the following advice to mitigate the associated cyber-risks:

Use caution with direct messages and drafts folder, delete old irrelevant information: Companies should be careful about keeping sensitive information in direct messages -- it can pose cyber-risks. People often use corporate social media to write directly to brands, asking for help, using the account holder's product or service. Also, some partnerships, such as those with bloggers, can be negotiated in direct messages.

Sometimes personal or financial information is shared during these conversations, which could remain in the messages folder long after the interaction. If there is a breach allowing cybercriminals to gain unauthorised access to the account, sensitive data may be leaked or used to organise an attack.

Make it a habit to delete irrelevant messages when the dialogue is finished and the information it contains is no longer relevant. The same applies to posts -- carefully review what is saved in the drafts folder from time to time.

Review old posts to minimise reputational risks: The power of reputation is growing: every word, action and decision can either help or harm the company's image. Everything published online is of great importance in terms of cybersecurity as well: when sensitive information (re)appears in public, it almost always ends up hurting a company's reputation and could incur financial losses.

Spend time reviewing already published posts, as they might contain information that doesn't fit the current reality -- that might be anything from inappropriate jokes to controversial advertising campaigns. What was normal yesterday, can cause a negative public reaction today.

Be careful posting your success stories: Having signed a lucrative contract or reached a deal, we want to tell as many people as possible about our success. But we really need to be aware of unwanted attention from cybercriminals.

If a potential attacker...