We have all seen those quizzes on Facebook and other social media platforms calling out for our personal information. Whilst they can seem fun and harmless, that is often not the case.
These links can be posted with more malicious intent than you might think. Hackers can collect, use and profit from your personal information so think before you offer out the answers to your security questions.
What should I look out for?
Questions in these quizzes always seem very relatable and nostalgic. For example, do you remember your first car? What was your first job? Who did you see at your first ever concert? If these questions seem familiar to you, that’s because they’re frequently used as security questions.
Banks will require you to set up security questions as part of 2FA (Two Factor Authentication), and a lot of the time the prompts will reflect the questions in these quizzes. People also often use personal information as the foundation for passwords, which in turn makes your passwords very easy to guess if someone has access to your personal information.
How can hackers gain and use my information?
Understanding how hacking and identity theft happens is crucial for protecting yourself. The easiest way to hack a Facebook account is to go through the ‘Forgot my password’ feature on the login page. Once you have confirmed you no longer have access to the email address linked to the account, it becomes very easy to redirect the account to a new email account if you can answer security questions and/or guess passwords.
Once one account has been successfully hacked, it becomes easier to gain access to your other accounts, as passwords often mirror each other. For example, your Instagram and Twitter passwords could be based around the same word. If a cyber-criminal gains access to your personal messages and linked accounts, it could be disastrous and lead to identity theft or even worse finding your bank accounts have been emptied.
What can I do to stay safe?
As scary as this all sounds, it is relatively easy to stay safe online.
- Remember to think before you share
- Create hard to guess passwords making sure to differentiate them between platforms
- Always use two factor authentication for extra security
If you find yourself falling victim to a cyber-attack, we can help. Our disaster recovery team are experts in the field, and we can provide support in recovering lost data. However, prevention is always better than cure, our security security audit can provide you with peace of mind when online.
If you would like to find out more about our specialist cyber security services and the tailored support we offer, contact us to speak to one of our team today.