Minster’s Social Media Cyber Security Tips – April 2022

Cyber Security Awareness: Social Media

This month we wanted to offer you some advice regarding social media usage and the risks to your cyber security. On a personal, ‘non-business’ level, social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram are supposed to be a fun and informal way for you to catch up with your friends and family. But it is also one of the top ways in which cyber criminals can target you for your personal information. Here’s how…

Are you a bit of an over sharer when it comes to your social media posts? Let us give you some examples…

• Can you remember the make and model of your first car?
• Your superhero name is your Mother’s maiden name followed by the name of the town you grew up in… what’s yours?!
• Who still remembers their first ever email address?
• Most people live within 20 miles of the street they grew up on… do you?
• Take a selfie and add the hashtags of your high school and the year you left to see what your former classmates are up to now!

Do any of these sound familiar? The questions above are just a few examples of the clever methods used by hackers to retrieve your personal information; the answers to the above questions will give away the answers to some of the most common security questions linked to your personal accounts, such as your online banking!

Minster’s advice:

Stop and think before you share ANYTHING on social media, make sure that it doesn’t contain any personal information that could be used by cyber criminals to gain access to your personal accounts. Always remember that NOTHING posted online is entirely private, regardless of your account settings.