Social Media

The risks of using social media, and the care you need to take, to protect your data

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What are the main risks?

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Revealing sensitive information
Downloading something that contains malware
Posting something that contravenes your contract of employment
Being taken in by people pretending to be people or companies they are not in order to get you to do something - sometimes called "social engineering"

Advice on avoiding these risks

Be really careful about what you share on social media.	Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, weblogs and podcasts are not secure and can be accessed by the general public. Scammers can easily gather information of you to build up a plan for identify-theft attacks, or simply to force entry into your house. For example, it is unwise to describe periods of time that you leave your home un-attended, or to reveal data that is commonly used (by banks etc) to identify you: the name of your first pet, your town of birth, your mother’s maiden name etc.
Think before clicking.	Social media sites are prone to malware, because users are able to upload things to the website. This means that they may be able to upload malware too. Generally speaking, accessing images is OK, but if you download anything executable, it could contain malware. See “Phishing”, for information about how to examine a link and avoid phishing, before you click on it. Phishing
Do not post defamatory information.	Do not post any comments which could be interpreted as cyber-bullying, or as any kind of attack on anyone. It is very unwise to publish statements that bring the University into disrepute. Do not post defamatory information about your employer or your manager, (or anyone). See the related link, for information about implications in your work.
Do check your privacy settings and app permissions.	Whenever you log into another site using Facebook account or Google account, or you add another app, you create another possible source of personal data leakage.
Be wary of unprompted contact from strangers and do not trust them easily.	Social engineers are good at pretending to be a figure of authority, a friend or even just somebody in need, making you trust them and finally get what they want from you.