Tag: social media security

Social media marketing practices may be increasing identity theft risks

This type of advertising and promoting is growing in popularity, but it does come with drawbacks.

Businesses have been working hard to get the very most out of social media marketing in the hopes of being able to connect with customers and prospective clients without having to spend a large part of their overall advertising budget.

However, while this channel has opened up a world of opportunities, it is also coming with risks.

Among the risks that are now being associated with the use of social media marketing are data breaches and identity theft. For this reason, it is very important that businesses of all sizes pay attention to the way in which they are using the various networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and others, and recognize what they could be inadvertently sharing if the wrong person were to make his or her way in.

Many of the largest social media marketing sites have already experienced events involving data breaches.

social media marketing -identity theft riskAmong the online and mobile security risks that are being associated with the use of social media for advertising and promoting purposes is the dreaded data breach. However, intellectual property theft is also becoming problematic and many companies overlook this particular threat. It is a good idea for businesses who are using this channel within their marketing strategy to identify the types of risks that they face so that proper preparations can be made.

In a recent story published by Merchants Information Solutions vice president, Mark Pribish, there were five risks that were underscored as being the most important to businesses using social media. These could be deliberate or entirely unintentional and included: making misleading or false claims, infringing on copyrights or trademarks, using intellectual property without permission, posting confidential information or trade secrets, or sharing customer or employee information in a way that could provide a cyber criminal the data they need for a data breach.

While most would agree that the threat of online and mobile security events is not enough to justify stopping the use of social media marketing, the consensus is that proper preparations can make all the difference in keeping data secure and avoiding legal struggles.

Mobile Security software newly released by Trend Micro

The global developer of security software has released a new security solution that provides protection from cyber threats.

Trend Micro Inc. has released a new and improved version of its Trend Micro Security 2015 suite, which offers Antivirus Security, Mac Security, Internet Security, Maximum security and Premium Security, and the company has also released a mobile security app which prevents the installation of malicious apps.

According to the results of a study, 40% of mobile users do not protect their device with a password.

A recent study commissioned by Trend Micro found that internet users take part in various online behaviors that are potentially risky, such as allowing apps to access information from their social media profiles and browsing suspicious websites. 67% of consumers allowed their web browsers to save their passwords while they were on the net.

Since it is becoming more common for mobile device accounts to be shared with home computer networks, Trend Micro decided to create a comprehensive security solution that would offer consumers protection regardless of which device they were using.

Mobile Security and AppsThe company’s general manager of global consumer business, Akihiko Omikawa, said that “Trend Micro Security 2015 provides protection against threats and privacy concerns regardless of the device or operating system.” He added that “The solution protects users’ personal information from being compromised by cyber criminals while maintaining privacy and protection of online activity,” and that it “protects individuals anytime, anywhere, on any device, acting as a great deterrent.”

In addition to 40% of mobile users admitting to not password protecting their device, the study also found that 28% of respondents allowed their social media profiles to be accessed by mobile apps and 10% believed that they had downloaded a malicious app to their mobile device.

The mobile security app helps to identify fake websites and bad apps.

Among other security features, it protects a mobile user’s device from malicious software that may attempt to steal the user’s information or sign them up for expensive third party services. It can also help user’s choose the top security settings on Facebook, to help increase privacy protection within the social media universe.

While a free version of the new mobile security solution offered by Trend Micro is available, it only provides limited security features including backup, app scanning, and Facebook Privacy. To receive the services full benefits, users will need to pay an annual fee.