As of 2017, there are approximately 2.46 billion social network users in the world and it is expected to grow to 2.77 billion by 2019 (Statista, 2017). That means roughly 36% of the global population is connected via social media and when it comes to a first-world country that lives and breathes technology like the US, this percentage is much higher. With the advancement of telecommunication and the rising popularity of social media, the need for proper cybersecurity to protect this service is evident. The most commonly known abuse of social media is when people post and share all kinds of information carelessly and people can maliciously use this information for their own exploit. However, the dangers of information and misinformation diffusion has equally caused great turmoil in different parts of the world, forcing social media companies, governments, and companies to invest resources for more advance countermeasures.
A case study in South Africa investigated the privacy risks that Facebook users are susceptible to when they’re online (Nyoni & Velempini, 2018). During the study, they discovered that users regularly post sensitive data, such as updating their “friends” with their location and activities in real-time. The majority of these users don’t realize that their posts were in a public domain, so people who aren’t their friends can see still these updates.
Social media has also played a large role in some of the worlds’ most memorable revolutions and tragedies. For example, in August of 2011, a series of riots known as the London Riots caused thousands of people to tear through the cities of England which included looting and arson, leading to a mass deployment of police as a countermeasure. This act of rebellion was initialized by the death of Mark Duggan, a London local who was killed by law enforcement on the 4th that month for allegedly being armed with a handgun (Barkham, 2011). Social media networks like Blackberry Messenger was used as an effective way for rioters to assemble because the network was more difficult to trace users in comparison to Twitter (Adams, 2011).
In more recent events and one that’s a little closer to home, in January 2017, the CIA, FBI, and NSA discovered covert and overt activities of Russian agencies, concluding with “high confidence” that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had ordered these agencies to help damage Hillary Clinton’s chance of presidency (“Social Media and National Security”, 2018). Their efforts gave them access to networks of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s email account that was then leaked to Wikileaks. Russian operators also successfully used social media as a propaganda tool to spread disinformation. Facebook disclosed that Fall that they had to shut down several hundred fake accounts that were created by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company linked to the Kremlin (a government building analogical to the White House). They used these accounts to buy thousands of ads. Twitter also had to deactivate thousands of automated fake accounts that repeatedly posted hundreds of identical Tweets and messages. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, criticized executives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter for their lack of efforts to prevent foreign agencies from manipulating the election and pressed them to explain how they plan to prevent future meddling. The Subcommittee also shared their concern for terrorist organizations using their social media platforms to recruit and radicalize people, and due to its rapid growth, it has become increasingly difficult to monitor in terms of national security (Coulthart, 2016). They responded by saying that they’re hiring more staff to monitor advertising and investing more in AI technology that can recognize fake ads more efficiently.
However, social media has not always been used for malice. In late 2010, an event known as the Arab Springs was a string of protests that originally began in Tunisia but soon spread to a number of nations in North Africa and the Middle East in response to the oppressive regimes, low standards of living, dictatorship, political corruption, and many other reasons. A research study created a database full of information from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube of people’s first-hand accounts of injustices (Peña-López, 2012). They found that by sharing political debates incited conversations which preceded major events and the spread of democratic ideas across international borders. These conversations of revolution quickly spread through social media and hearing people’s inspiring stories of how they’ve been wronged by the government caused many people to fight for a better life. In a survey, nearly 9 out of 10 Egyptians and Tunisians said they used Facebook to organize or share protests and nearly all of the protests occurred according to plan besides for one exception (Huang, 2011). Social media acted as a catalyst for North Africans to mobilize and empowered them to share their opinions to influence change. Almost all of the nations involved doubled in Facebook users during this time with the exception of Libya. Their user activity fell by 76%, likely due to the fighting between the regime and rebels within the nation.
It has become apparent that without proper regulation, people with malevolent intent can cause distress for people and their organizations. Companies like ZeroFox have decided to take action on their own. ZeroFox is a cybersecurity company that invested $88 million in their social media security technology and go-to market efforts in order to secure users and organizations’ social media accounts from cyber-attacks (Kerner, 2017). With the rise of scams and identity and information theft, CEO James Foster said that most security experts recommend two-factor authentication for basic level organizations, but Foster disagrees, saying that this helps against individual social media accounts from being taken over, but threats like fake account production and complex, multi-level attacks require a more serious countermeasure.
Pearson also dealt with a issue that began with a New Jersey high schooler tweeting about a question on a common-core test that sparked concern for cheating. They partnered up with Caveon, a security technology and consulting company, to monitor social media and websites during their testing periods by trolling the Web for any potential threats of released test questions/answers. Many felt like like they were spying on students, but Pearson disagrees, claiming they are required by state to monitor public conversation regarding their tests via social media, arguing that whatever users make public on the Web can and will be seen. They assure the public that they wont address a breach unless they have confirmed the exposure. Since March 24th, 2015, there were a total of 72 infractions discovered after over 900,000 PARCC assessments in six states. Pearson says that thousands of dollars goes into the development of these questions, so when people publicize it, the questions have to be removed, causing it to be a costly refraction (Molnar, 2015).
Although social networks can be used to spread and organize misconduct, in the previous example of the London Riots, social media was also used to combat the criminals responsible. Many people foolishly posted themselves with stolen good while others even failed to properly cover their faces on social media in the act (Castella & McClatchey, 2011). London civilians even started a Facebook page with 500+ members called, “Lets catch the London 2011 Rioters and looters”, where they shared a collection of photos and videos of people torching cars, smashing shop windows, and stealing goods. Tumblr was also hosted to a blog called, “Catch a Looter”, where a collective of photos of looters and vandals caught red-handed. The blog urged people to contact CrimeStoppers if anyone recognize anyone within the collective (Popkin, 2012).
Although social media was meant to keep us connected, it is slowly becoming more integrated with other activities people partake in, such as shopping, gaming, and other sites that required some sort of account creation. This can lead to information theft or worse – identity theft, leading to massive financial loss. Although Facebook provides privacy settings that allow users to filter what info is shared and what kind of overall accessibility is available, altering these options is a double-edged sword for some. Limiting the information accessibility and privacy will protect users from potential vulnerabilities, but entertainment benefits will become limited too (Vishwanath et al, 2018).
In conclusion, a lot has to be done with current laws and regulations to help prevent breaches of security as well as social media exploitations. Laws like the 70-year-old “Foreign Agents Registration Act”, an act that required people representing their interests with foreign politics to disclose their relationship with the foreign government and information in regards to their activities so that American government can “evaluate” these people, are too outdated for the currents times (“Social Media and National Security”, 2018). On the contrary, some of the studies mentioned showed that user negligence to privacy settings are one of the causes to information theft. By educating ourselves of the settings that help guard us from people outside our friend group is only the first step to defending ourselves. It is clear to see that there is much more to be done to help further fortify the cybersecurity of social media networks.