Facial Recognition, Privacy

Facebook and Facial Recognition? A Bad Combination!

If we have learned anything over the years, social media platforms, and particularly Facebook have undertaken many initiates that are less than ethical. With the latest news that most people will start to see facial recognition options in their Facebook platform today, privacy advocates are sounding alarms. And for good reason! What is missing is the information needed for an informed public on this topic. Most Facebook users will not realize the ramifications of letting Facebook use facial recognition.

Before looking at what this means now, we need to explore a bit of history. Let’s take a look back at some of Facebook’s less than stellar moments:

  • Back in 2014 it became known that Facebook conducted research on approximately 700,000 users without their knowledge. The research was intended to learn how users would react – emotionally – to either all positive or all negative information on their feeds. As someone who both teaches and also conducts research, this is a fundamental ethical breach of research guidelines. When conducting research, there is an ethical requirement to obtain Informed Consent. As a part of this, participants know that they are involved in a research project, what the research is, how it will be used and they can withdraw at any time, etc. Facebook ignored this and proceeded without any Informed Consent. Thus, the impacts on people could have been detrimental to their mental health with no plan to mitigate.
  • Increasingly since the 2016 US federal election, Facebook has come under fire for its lack of process, policies and actions that easily enabled foreign third parties to directly impact the election.
  • And while Zuckerberg testified before the US Congress, which looked as comfortable for him as getting your teeth pulled without lidocaine, he nonetheless showed up. In Canada however, Facebook was a no-show to discuss privacy breach issues of Canadian citizens.
  • In July 2019, Facebook was levied a $5 billion fine to settle a US Federal Trade Commission data privacy probe. 
  • And just last month, the US federal appeals court rejected Facebook’s effort to undo a 2015 class-action lawsuit claiming that it illegally collected and stored biometric data for millions of users without their consent in Illinois. 

In looking at just these few examples, any reasonable person would question why Facebook would need and/or want to collect facial recognition data. And, make no mistake. They are “collecting” facial recognition data. 

We have already seen how some governments are using facial recognition data to create states of surveillance. Think of China for one. The United Kingdom is another jurisdiction that has delved into facial recognition and, as we have seen, the results in many cases proved to be wrong in 98 percent of the time.

So, while there could be applications for national security, once there is proven technology, and of course, there are laws established to protect citizens, I have to question what possible need is there for Facebook to implement facial recognition in its platform. We have an established pattern for Facebook not adhering to laws and collecting information and using information in less than ethical ways. 

Facial recognition, when in the wrong hands, can be used in a variety of harmful ways. The mere fact that an individual does not have control over his or her image is alarming. If in the wrong hands’, could images potentially be used in the creation of deep fake videos or other images? Such deep fakes could show a person committing a crime, stating information against a government – which in some countries could result in detention or worse – or even stating slanderous comments against a person, an employer, etc. All of which could have negative impacts as the person then has to prove that they were not the person captured in a video. Now many would argue that you don’t store biometric data with images such as drivers’ licences, etc. That is nice in theory, but as we have seen with Facebook, what should happen, doesn’t always happen. So yes, it could happen.

And perhaps more disturbingly is that Facebook has stored our digitized face since we started using it – without our permission. (This was part of the Illinois lawsuit.) The question is…to what end? Some argue that the market for facial recognition is poised to reach $9.6 by 2022. There is definitely money to be made for Facebook. And, with the technology that they are working on, it won’t be just your face. It will be your posture, the way you walk and possibly even how you dress that will make you identifiable. 

As an individual, the implications are deeply concerning. As most of live in societies where privacy is a human right, Facebook – and others – will be using facial recognition to absolutely remove this human right. And sadly, most of us don’t even realize that this is happening. When we do, it will be too late.

If like me, you have already scaled back on using Facebook, the implementation of facial recognition has definitely been the tipping point to back away completely.

Now the question is, will this be a tipping point for you?

Heather MacLean, Privacy

Six Things to Do When Your Bank Has Been Hacked

Each day we hear about different companies that have experienced a hack or data breach. Somehow however, when we learn it is was bank that was hacked, it is quite different. Many more of us become very concerned for our privacy and more importantly, we become extremely concerned about our financial security. Rightly so. Our entire lives are now digital and at risk.

While we can’t turn back the clock and we can certainly hope that we won’t get a notification from our bank that we were one of the victims. We want to be one of those who weren’t impacted. If however, we are not so lucky there are some steps that can be taken to lessen the impact. Here are six things you can do immediately when your bank has been hacked:

  1. Update all passwords and security questions.
  2. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts.
  3. If you use a password manager, maybe consider not using it for your banking. Keep your banking passwords separate and distinct.
  4. Be diligent in checking your online statements – both credit cards and banking and immediately report abnormalities to your provider.
  5. When monitoring your accounts, don’t just look for large purchase that you don’t recognize. Look for any abnormality. You could have a serious of purchases under $20.
  6. Monitor your credit rating. If your bank was breached, ask for credit monitoring and protection.

These are just six things that you can do immediately. If you are still worried about your privacy, contact us for more detail on how you can implement other privacy measures.

Heather-Anne MacLean, TaylorMade Solutions

Book Review: The President is Missing

I don’t normally do a book review on a piece of fiction on this blog, however, I am making an exception this time as there is a definite connection to cybersecurity, privacy and trust.

I picked up this book as I needed a book for my vacation. I had originally picked up The Woman in Cabin 10. It was a really good read, not cybersecurity related, and I blew threw it much quicker than I thought, but I digress.

When I picked up The President is Missing, I have to confess that I wasn’t sure what to expect. My first experience with a book by Clinton was My Life. It wasn’t a positive experience. I couldn’t finish it. I think it is the first book ever that I just could not finish. While Clinton is a very intelligent person, I just can’t imagine that someone can recall that level of detail of their lives, including what one wore on what day when a child. The detail was incredible and made it overwhelming and unbelievable, but again I digress.

I decided to buy the book because of James Patterson. He has an impressive pedigree and a great writing style.

So, the review? What did I think?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. First because it was about cybersecurity and secondly, if you are a fan of Dan Brown, it has a similar feel, without the very clear formulaic approach. I have read all of Brown’s books and have enjoyed them, the last one, somewhat less. In fact, Origin felt was so predictable and obvious I have absolutely forgotten what the book was even about. I had to look up the name to reference it here.

The President is Missing has a good storyline and I am hoping that people who read it might have an increased awareness of what can happen to an entire country’s critical infrastructure – water supply, water quality, ecommerce, banking systems, electricity grid and military response and capabilities should a cyberattack happen. The authors do a really good job of describing just what could happen so that the lay person would get it. At the same time, I am hoping that people knowing that this is a piece of fiction won’t think that the impact or ramifications of a cyberattack are also fiction, because it is not.

The details about the workings of the White House, the US government and the Secret Service, etc. were well done. Of course, Clinton and others thanked in the book brought that reality to the book.

I also liked that there were some twists and turns and with most whodunits I tend to get a good idea of the main protagonist very early on because I like them, read them and watch them in movies a lot. In The President is Missing, I did began to wonder, but it did take a little longer, which is a good thing.

So, in the end, I do recommend this book as an entertaining and interesting read. And my hope is that people will get some insight on the ramifications of a cyberattack on our critical infrastructure and give people more of the desire to support our elected officials in making decisions supporting the protection of our critical infrastructure against attacks.

Want to talk more about cybersecurity or cybercrime impacts your business, reach out to us. We would love to work with you.

BOOK REVIEW: Have You Been Hacked Yet?

There is no shortage of books on the market about cybersecurity. Some detail cyberattacks. Some detail the history of cybersecurity or cyber warfare. And of course, there are more and more books emerging on how to protect yourself online.

This latest book review is on Have You Been Hacked Yet? By Dr. Natalia Stakhanova.  Dr. Stakhanova is by no means a slouch when it comes to cybersecurity. In addition to being an Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick, which has a stellar and robust history in cybersecurity, Dr. Stakhanova is the New Brunswick Innovation Research Chair in Cyber Security. In her spare time she is also the co-founder and CEO of CyberLaunch Academy, an initiative focused on promoting science and technology for children.

From the book’s synopsis:

“….this book gives a gentle introduction into the practical aspects of your daily security. It introduces the most common risks associated with the daily use of modern computing technology. Building on that, the book articulates the importance of, and demonstrates the use of, various types of defence strategies to protect you as a user.”

And now the review:

From first glance at the Table of Contents, I feel that most people would not be intimidated by reading this book. For the most part, the language is straightforward. It covers all the things that one would want to learn about in order to help protect their families and themselves.

When getting into the content, Dr. Stakhanova explains things clearly and easily. I particularly like that she covers off just how easy it is for someone to fall victim to cybercrime. She makes it easy to understand that these criminals play on our emotions, our concern for others and our need to help to scam us. So many people are embarrassed to admit that they have fallen victim that we often don’t have a true picture of just how many people have been scammed.

One of my favourite chapters has got to be Chapter 2. Dr. Stakhanova explains what our digital valuables are and why we should protect them. It is a very common sense perspective, but we often don’t take the time to stop and think about it this way.

I also appreciate the time she has taken to focus on social engineering. I know far too many people who have succumbed to social engineering and/or those who fail to see the concerns around how much information they are sharing online. I hope that this helps change behaviour.

There is, of course, lots of other good information in the book. It is the first edition and I know that Dr. Stakhanova will be making some edits to update some information and fix a few “bugs” shall we say.

So, who is this book for? It is definitely a book for those who know they should be more careful but don’t know what they should be doing about it. It’s a book for those who want to better understand how to protect and educate their children. It’s a great resource for consumers that want to learn how to be “safe” or “safer” online. There are two people in my life that I will be giving this book to immediately.

Want to talk more about cybersecurity, privacy and how you can be protected? Connect with us.

TaylorMade Solutions

Six Tips for Consumers to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Cybercrime

I believe that information is power. I know that every person that uses the internet could become a victim of cybercrime. Cybercriminals are becoming much, much better at duping us and getting us to willingly give up our credit card numbers. So, as I started out with, knowledge is power and I want to offer up the following six tips to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime.

But before I give the tips, let me give an overview of what some of us are being victimized by. And, I want to stress that if you have been a victim, you are not alone. In fact, according to the 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, 10 million Canadians were affected by cybercrime last year. And the cost of this cybercrime? $1.8 billion Canadian dollars…this is not small change be any means.

So, how were criminals able to get this amount of money from people? Here are a few ways:

  1. Fake tech support via computer pop-ups:

Consumers accessing insecure sites often get pop-ups that tell you that you have a virus, that your computer has been compromised, or even that you have committed some fraudulent activity.  Of course you have not, but these criminals are playing on your fear, emotion and the hopes that you don’t have the technical savvy to realize this is a scam.

So, how can you tell that the site is not secure? One way is to look at the url or web address.

You need to see the secure lock as you see on our website. This is a SECURE site:

TaylorMade Solutions

 

 

This is an insecure site:

  TaylorMade SolutionsTaylorMade Solutions

2. Fake Tech support via phone calls:

If you have been an unfortunate victim of a pop-up scam, and gave your credit card, and/or control of your computer over to the scammers, they could wait a few months and then call pretending to be someone from Microsoft, Google, Norton, ….or any vendor really.  Your information my have been released on the Dark Web too, which makes you an interesting target for criminals. The callers will indicate that there is suspicious behaviour with your computer and they can help you fix it.

The fact is that vendors cannot legally see anything that is happening with your computer. If someone is claiming that they can see what is going in with your computer, either they are lying or they have some sort illegal access…or they are a member of the CIA, FBI, CSIS, MI5 or some other spy agency.

So, if you don’t think a member of a spy agency is watching you…it’s a scam. Hang up. Don’t ever, ever, ever give control of your computer over to a caller. Don’t ever, ever, ever give any credit card information to someone claiming they can fix your computer who has called YOU (or if there is a popup on your computer).

3. Fake Credit Card Breach:

If someone calls claiming to be from your credit card company stating the your card has been used inappropriately, never give any information. The scam is that they will ask for your birthdate, your card number and some other details, maybe even your PIN or the SVC on the back of the card. Never. I repeat. Never give this information. Instead hangup and call the number YOU have for your credit card company and ask to validate a call that just came in. Don’t call the number that the potential scammer gave you. That’s how they get you.

So, what can you do? Here are Six simple tips:

  1. Don’t fall for computer pop-ups. If they appear, either get off the site, or disconnect from internet or shut down your computer or all of these options… Always look and use secure sites. Look for the https: and the lock symbol as shown above.
  2. If you get a call from someone claiming to be tech support, hang-up.
  3. Never give access to someone to remotely control your computer..NEVER.
  4. Never give your credit card information to someone who claims to be helping you.
  5. Remember that vendors, be it Microsoft, Norton, your service provider, etc. cannot see that something “suspicious” is happening with your computer. If someone claims that, they are lying to you.
  6. Keep your antivirus software updated, but don’t think that will protect you from everything. You need to be vigilant and follow 1-5 above.

But what happens if one of this very clever scammers succeeds… and by the way, you would not be alone. Remember that approximately 10 million Canadians were victim to cybercrime in 2017. Here are some things you must do:

  1. Contact your bank or credit card company immediately, if you gave your information, to advise them of what has happened.
  2. Never call the “company” again. Doing so tips them off and thwarts police investigation.
  3. Report the scam to your local police.
  4. If you gave access to your computer, ALWAYS take your computer to a professional who can clean your computer and remove viruses, malware and/or other software installed by the criminal. Not doing so could mean that the criminal installed malicious software that can record your keystrokes to get your sensitive information, or could be a virus or something else that will harm you and your data.

Being on line is no different than protecting yourself in your home. You lock the doors and you don’t let strangers in. Do the same for your online safety.

Want to know more? Contact us for more details.

TaylorMade Solutions, cybercrime

Are Communication Failures Lessening the Impact of Cybercriminals?

Not a day goes by where we don’t hear of some hack or another where cybercriminals are making a killing. Despite this however, there are a couple of things that appear to be happening:

  1. The average person, consumer or even worker is not connecting the dots to either realize that they are at risk, or that their actions are the risk and the entry point for these cybercriminals. 
  1. Organizations, for profit or not-for-profit, are not heeding the simple warnings to carry out simple tasks such as patching, but they aren’t also being held accountable for the compromise of personal data breaches.

The lack of accountability is very significant and we as consumers need to hold their feet to the fire and require that regulations, laws and enforcement occur.

So, why is this? I think that there are a few reasons that the message for action and taking precautions are not getting through. They include:

  1. We continue to use language that people don’t understand. This definitely tops my list. I see it when I speak to business people all of the time. I talk about cybersecurity issues or risks and they just don’t get it. One of the first comments is: we outsource our IT. Or, we operate in the Cloud, so it’s not an issue.

These comments definitely demonstrate that they are only seeing cybersecurity as an IT or networking issue. It’s much more than that and we need to educate our front line defence! Our human resources! And to arm them properly, we need to find a common language that people understand, not just the people in the “biz.”TaylorMade Solutions, cybercrime

Rather than refer to cybersecurity breaches, we need to help people see the criminal aspect of what is happening and that there are some easy steps to take to help protect each of us from them. For example, how many people lock their homes when the leave? Heck, how many of us keep the doors locked all of the time? It’s a matter of personal protection. Protecting our families and protecting our property. We now need to think about online safety in the same way. We need to lock the doors (our computers and internet access from criminals) and ensure that ensure that our windows are also closed and locked. If by chance a lock doesn’t quite work like it used to (continuously update our versus protection and software patches), we replace it immediately.

      2. When we do talk about cybercrime, we paint the picture of the villain in a hoodie in a dark basement. This is an old and outdated picture. Reality is, cybercriminals are often the people you least expect and can quite frankly be anywhere in the world, including next door, or in another country on the other side of the world. The point is, they aren’t likely lurking in a basement, but rather in comfortable quarters living off the ill gotten gains of people who might just be a little too trusting. Maybe you, maybe your neighbour, maybe a family member.

So, what is the solution?

In my opinion we need to go back to basics. Communications 101 actually. Who is our audience? What are we trying to tell them in order to get them to change behaviours? What language should we be using so that they understand? In other words, stop with the tech talk or cybersecurity industry talk. Speak to them in their language. And finally, where are they consuming information so that we can reach them?

These are simple steps that we can do. We just need to do them.

Do you have other ideas? We would love to know.

Do you need help implementing your internal Comms Plan or even developing a Privacy Breach Plan? If so, let us know.

Why I Will Never Wish You Happy Birthday Again on Social Media

Not a day goes by that I don’t see friends or family celebrating their birthday. I know it is their birthday because I see both the reminders on social media – Facebook and LinkedIn – and the countless scores of people who are sending their best wishes. In fact, I used to be one of those people!

I will however, never wish you happy birthday again on social media! And here’s why:

I actually care about you. Now of course those doing the well wishing care too. Don’t get me wrong. The fact is however, that social media is the primary method that cybercriminals now use to learn about you. It’s called social engineering. And knowing what I know now, I opt to not help cybercriminals.

Some of you might be saying: “What the heck is social engineering and why do I care?”Social Engineering/CyberCrime

It’s a great question. I am glad you are asking and you should definitely care. There are of course many definitions. Some formal and others not so much. For simplicity sake, social engineering is psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. In the age of social media however, manipulation might not be an issue. After all social media is meant to be sharing platforms where we can express ourselves, share information about our family, our jobs, our vacations and even what we buy or do.

For years we have been encouraged to share…maybe even overshare. Every detail of our lives can be found on our social media profiles. And while this is a great way to keep family and friends up-to-date with what we are doing, there is a dark side.

In fact, social media is now one of the best sources for criminals to obtain countless bits of information about you, your family, your employer and even your friends. They can then use this information to:

  1. Spoof you and create fake social media accounts in your name and/or fill out credit applications. This of course is known as identity theft. The ramifications can range from less than desirable to very serious.
  2. Send phishing email to your colleagues at work attempting to:
  • get more details on your organization,
  • try to secure false payments, or
  • have a virus or ransomware deployed when a link and/or attachment is clicked by your trusting coworkers who think you are emailing them.

These have all been very effectively used by cybercriminals not just globally, but locally.

So, how can you protect yourself and your employer? Here are 10 simple tips:

  1. Ensure your privacy and security settings are as strong as possible.
  2. Review your privacy settings on a regular basis, say three times a year. Set a calendar reminder.
  3. Never show your birthdate on your social media. Never.
  4. Never list your martial status on your social media. Never.
  5. Don’t list your family members.
  6. Never accept connection requests from people you don’t actually know. This applies to LinkedIn as well.
  7. Never put your home address on social media.
  8. While we tend to put a lot of information about ourselves on LinkedIn, don’t put personal information on this profile.
  9. When you receive an email from someone you don’t know, never click on the link or open an attachment that maybe included. This includes email from couriers, Canada post, Revenue Canada, etc. Think twice and never click.
  10. When you do receive email from some you DO know, but aren’t expecting it, think twice before clicking on the link or to open the attachment. Don’t be afraid to call the person you know or send a new email ( don’t do a respond) asking if he or she sent you an email with a link and/or attachment.

These 10 simple tips will help protect you and your employer against the actions of cybercriminals. And, I do think it is our responsibility to help protect our employers. Research has shown that cybercrime is expensive and some businesses can’t recover, so doing our part is helping to protect our jobs.

We all must remain vigilant. It is an unfortunate part of using social. Like anything criminals find new ways to leverage technology to try to gain from.

If you would like to learn more, connect with us. Be Prepared! Be Trained! Have a TaylorMade Solution!

Entry Level Cybersecurity Jobs Paying More than Entry Level Lawyers

While this headline might be salacious to some, it’s reality. By 2021 there will be a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals that is estimated to reach 3.5 million. This is significant in that cybercrime is also increasing and shows no sign of slowing down. As a result, if you graduate with a degree that you can leverage for a cybersecurity job, you will be paid as much or more than an entry level lawyer.

To discuss the global labour shortage, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Morgan of Cybersecurity Ventures, the world’s leading researcher and publisher covering the global cyber economy — and a trusted source for cybersecurity facts, figures, and statistics. We had a great conversation and this blog is part one of a two-part series.

MacLean: Steve, thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. I know how passionate you are about sharing information so let’s get started. As we know, cybercrime is not going away, it’s only increasing.  What concerns you most about the global labour shortage?

CyberNB

Steve Morgan, Cybersecurity Ventures

Morgan: What troubles me most is unlike some specific cyber threats that we see, I don’t really see an answer or solution for the workforce shortage. Situationally we hear vendors speak to certain market sectors such as Artificial Intelligence and technology as the solution. Every vendor speaks to technology being the solution for the workforce shortage, but it is not helping. We are still behind the eight ball and it’s getting worse. People need to think differently for the solution.

MacLean: Your research shows that cybercrime is predicted to reach $6 trillion by 2021. How do we help get the message out that there are tremendous opportunities for people in this sector?

Morgan: Cybercrime is an epidemic that is getting larger and larger every year. Black hat hackers are getting better and they have no rules. The unemployment rate for cyber sits at zero percent right now. I think that some of the issues arise from people not being informed. Quite frankly schools are not informed. Raytheon did a study in the US that stated that two thirds of students have never been spoken to by a parent or a school about cybersecurity. This is concerning.

MacLean: Do you think this has a lot to do with people not understanding the issues and/or the fact that they may not be able to articulate the complexities of cybersecurity?

Morgan: Absolutely! When you go out to dinner with people and start talking about cybersecurity, you just lose them. They have a very, very general knowledge of computer science and what kids might be looking at jobs for graduation. In terms of cybersecurity however, they just don’t get it and they, themselves are at risk on their own media as they don’t realize just how at risk they are. In general the industry, media and others have not done a good job at articulating the issues.

“LESS TIME IN UNIVERSITY, HIGHER STARTING SALARIES RESULTS IN LESS DEBT AND MORE JOB OPPORTUNITIES WHERE EVER YOU WANT TO WORK.

MacLean: So, you raise an excellent point. We – as a collective in the industry – need to develop educational messages for the average consumer. We need to educate parents so they are better informed. Are parents the best point of contact?

Morgan: Parents aren’t the only point of contact, but they are an important one for young kids. They speak to their kids about what they are struggling with or what excites them. And most parents, not having the foundation of knowledge, would likely give their kids a blank stare if asked about careers in cybersecurity.

MacLean: Your website provides a wealth of information. It really is a wonderful resource for educators, marketers, journalists, etc. to use. Is there any issue with people sharing your content?

Morgan: Absolutely not. We want to educate the market. We make it easy to access the information and to share it. When quoting our research, Cybersecurity Ventures should also be cited as the source — and we recommend a hyperlink for the benefit of readers.

MacLean: What other ways can we reach kids?

Morgan: A few months ago I saw something that can really make a big difference and can reach moms – not that dads aren’t important – it’s just that moms spend more time with their kids. Palo Alto Networks signed an agreement with the Girl Scouts of America. It is a well thought out strategy that gets girls focused on cybersecurity.  This of course directly gets the girls thinking and learning about cybersecurity and the key is, it involves the mothers. This won’t work without the mothers being involved. I thought it was brilliant. We need to reach those kids in the US and really around the world. We need kids leaving the 11th and 12th grade thinking about this field.

There’s no doubt that we need to change the dialogue and provide more information so that we can overcome the global shortage of cybersecurity professionals.  This is not something that can be done in isolation. We must work together.

To learn more about how TaylorMade Solutions can help you collaborate, contact us today.

[Editor’s Note: a version of this blog previously appeared on the CyberNB Blog.

Personal Branding

New Year: Time to Audit Your Online Presence!

I always think that people should take a good long look at their online presence twice a year. For many people, however this is a lot of work. So, I really recommend that people audit their online presence at least in the New Year. It’s the perfect time to have new perspective. And now that we are a few weeks in, you are focused!

Some people might roll their eyes when I mention personal branding here, but that’s o.k. Whether people like it or not, they have a personal brand. Managing your online presence is an important component of owning and managing ‘your’ brand. A cornerstone in branding is ensuring consistency in all channels. That applies to your personal information. And, with cybercrime only on the increase, managing your information has never been more important.

Here are 5 things to help you do just that: (Not in order of importance)

social media

1. Take an Inventory

Over the course of a year, we end up signing up for a lot of different things. Sometimes it is email updates and other times it is for newer social apps such as SnapChat. If you haven’t been keeping track, it is time to start an inventory. Make use of either a spreadsheet or keep track in an application like Evernote. I wouldn’t recommend you keep your various passwords in anything but a very secure password keeper, however! Please forgo the spreadsheet OR Evernote for that.

When you have this comprehensive list you can review and determine if you have actually been leveraging all of these tools. If you haven’t, it might be time to opt-out or deactivate some.

Pros for doing this: By keeping an inventory, you know just where your information is and for what purpose. As roles change and careers progress, you may not want to have certain assets as you go forward. Additionally, you will ensure that your professional image is consistent across platforms.

Cons: This can be time consuming if you haven’t kept track and you may not find them all. There are of course apps that help you do this, but in my experience you have to “sign-up” for them as well and most are “not secure” sites. As a result, you could be further compromising yourself. So, while it is hard work up front, it pays off very quickly. 

2. Review your Avatars

When is the last time you updated your photo? Last year? Five years ago? Or, hopefully you don’t still have the “egg”. Regardless of what image you use, ask yourself, what professional imagine do you want to convey? What is your line of work? What message do you want to send? Your picture should reflect this.

Pros for doing this: Having an up-to-date and professional photo that portrays your profession, can only be a positive.

Cons: It does require keeping your photo up-to-date on all channels and if you use a lot of different social profiles, it can be timing consuming. However, this is another reason to edit out just how many you have.

3.  Contact Information

Have you changed companies? Perhaps you have consolidated some of your contact information? More and more people are doing this, but neglecting to update their social information to match your current information is less than desirable. The result? Outdated contact information for you. Again, think about what this says about your brand. If people are trying to contact you, this is not the best impression.

Pros for doing this: Keeping updated information, contact information in particular, means that you are reachable. If you are in business for yourself or in sales, having the “right” contact information is critical.

Cons: I really can’t think of any.

4. Automation

Despite being 2017, people still revert back to tactics of the 90’s or even the 2000’s. What do I mean by this? Well, for some we believe that we should only broadcast information. There is no social interaction with those whom we are connecting with. This is not the purpose or intention of social media. So, for those who focus on having automated social messages, such as on Twitter thanking people or telling them to connect on Facebook or LinkedIn, please rethink that. This is not a numbers game. In business you NEED interaction and specifically ACTION! Numbers alone don’t create action. Relationships create action. So, communicating and interacting with the people who follow you  and you follow, matters. In fact, it matters a lot!

Pros for doing this: Far too many people focus on numbers versus relationships. Creating relationships will set you apart from others. Dump the automation and focus on relationships.

Cons: I am not going to beat around the bush here. Doing this properly takes planning and orchid.

5. Security

This is probably the most important rethink for your social media. What information are you sharing? It’s important to remember that there is a fine line between sharing professional information and sharing information that can compromise your personal/online security.

Sharing birthdays and martial status on sites such as LinkedIn is not necessary and I would recommend that you just don’t do it. Think about each channel you are on. What is really relevant and right for your brand. Just because there is a ‘placeholder’ for something doesn’t mean you need to use it.

Passwords are also extremely important. Of course there is the debate about how often you should change your password. My rule of thumb for passwords is to change them on sites when I learn of a compromise. I also recommend having a longer and more complicated password with special characters and numbers.

Of course these are some of my top hits. I will explore others in a later post.

Want to learn more about social media audits, an integrated marketing strategy? Be Trained! Be Prepared! Have a TaylorMade Solution!

12 Great Cybersecurity Resources To Help Protect Your Business

Did you know that cyber-attack fallout could cost the global economy $3 trillion by 2020? With cybersecurity a huge focus for Opportunities NB (ONB) and the province of New Brunswick, we decided to curate a list of cybersecurity resources we think you can leverage to help protect yourself and your business. You don’t want to be the next C-Suite executive to lose their job over security blunders.

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Image: Owned by Heather-Anne MacLean

Before we get into our own curated resources, Dr. Natalia Stakhanova, the NB Innovation Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Sandy Bird, IBM Fellow and CTO of IBM Security Systems Division, offered their top picks to bookmark:

cybersecurity

DR. STAKHANOVA’S CYBERSECURITY BLOG PICKS:

1. KrebsonSecurity – Brian Krebs worked as a reporter for The Washington Post, and has authored more than 1,300 blog posts for the Security Fix blog as well as hundreds of stories for WashingtonPost.com.

2. Schneier on Security – Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, and has been called a “security guru” by The Economist.

SANDY BIRD’S CYBERSECURITY BLOG PICKS:

3. Security Intelligence – Brought to you by IBM, this site brings together a number of information security professionals sharing a variety of up-to-date posts.

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Sandy Bird, IBM

4. Dark Reading – This Information Week resource is a news site full of commentary and security news.

ASSORTED CYBERSECURITY RESOURCES:

5. Naked Security – Naked Security is Sophos’ award-winning threat news room, giving you news, opinion, advice and research on computer security issues and the latest internet threats.

6. Dr. Eric Cole’s Blog – Dr. Cole is a leading computer security expert with over 20 years of experience.

7. ThreatPost – Threatpost “aggregates content from existing online sources and combines this with unique viewpoints to generate a broader public discourse on timely IT security issues.”

8. Security Watch – Brian Honan is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of information security and has worked with numerous partners in both the private sector and public sectors in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in Europe.

9. IT Security Guru – A great blog publishing daily breaking news and interviews with thought leaders in IT security.

10. Cyberark Blog – Cyberark is a security company that “proactively stops the most advanced cyber threats – those that exploit insider privileges to attack the heart of the enterprise.”

11. Wired’s Threat Level – Wired is a well-established digital destination and its Threat Level category is full of great cybersecurity content.

12. Dan Kaminsky’s Blog – Dan is Founder and Chief Scientist at White Ops.

Want to learn more about MarCom for cybersecurity? Be Prepared! Be Trained! Have a TaylorMade Solution.

 

Note: This post previously appeared on ONB’s Blog.