Criminals of today are also aware of the influence of social media. Through posts and profiles, it is simple to find out information about a user, which makes phishing assaults more successful or even encourages blackmail. To combat this, social media monitoring examines written postings, comments, and even articles to find potential attack vectors and threats.
Additionally, there are certain collaborations with intelligence services that keep an eye on those who might disrupt significant events and other targets that require surveillance. Social media monitoring is able to keep an eye on both public and private information, such as private forums or Telegram channels, in addition to publicly accessible information like online profiles or status updates. There are, however, some restrictions because privacy protection prohibits observing private channels without the users’ permission.
What justifies its use?
You should employ social media monitoring for a variety of reasons. Social media monitoring can assist in identifying the attackers and their targets because an attacker may discuss potential targets online with other criminals. Additionally, unintentional data leaks, such as publishing private information on social media, or data leaks resulting from true hacking assaults can be quickly identified and promptly erased. Additionally, it can spot the propagation of erroneous information, enabling an immediate response to lessen reputational harm.
Social media monitoring difficulties
Social media networks post a staggering quantity of data every second, the majority of which is legitimate and unrelated to cyberattacks. Finding the pertinent information while removing the irrelevant noise is therefore difficult. Algorithms for machine learning make it easier to distinguish this noise. However, not all issues may be resolved by machine learning due to restrictions imposed by privacy protection regulations, as private channels are not accessible to corporate surveillance. According to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, even information that is readily available to the public may be considered private; as a result, it is necessary to first determine the legal limitations.
Conclusion
Although social media monitoring can be a helpful source of information about threats and potential targets, it is insufficient on its own to provide a comprehensive understanding of potential dangers. The best method to include social media monitoring is as a complementary source of data in a comprehensive risk management strategy.