Out of Control
Threat actors can bypass security controls.
Impersonations, malware, and credential theft are just the start of your problems. Hijacked and bot accounts can use disinformation and activism to attack your brand. Threat actors constantly target leaders and companies with acts of violence or verbal abuse on social media.
Threat actors can bypass security controls.
Users connect to bots fake profiles.
Social media gives attackers an opening to every user.
Phishing in social media is the same trick as email phishing, just in a new venue. Compromised or fake accounts send out DMs, InMails, and posts offering what appears to be valuable information or “can’t miss” deals. Because the message or post comes from an apparently authentic source, the phishing attempt has a higher chance of succeeding.
This isn’t new. Scammers are using this tactic more now to broaden the net and target specific executives or employees.
You need to monitor your brand, executives, and the dark web where social media credentials are being bought and sold. Awareness is the key to preventing a phishing attack or falling victim to one.
It is easier than you think to impersonate brands and executives. Social media companies may or may not be quick to respond to fake accounts. Most companies will investigate once notified, but do not typically verify new users. You need diligent monitoring to know when your brand is being abused. From there, you can depend on GroupSense to act. We know exactly what is needed and we’re highly efficient in getting the malicious material removed.
A disinformation campaign could change the outcome of an election in favor of the party or parties responsible. Russian election interference in 2016 is one of the more recognizable disinformation campaigns. It successfully manipulated contrasting ideologies, took advantage of current events to synergize discourse, and caused residual side effects that can be targeted in future operations.
In 2016, threat actors using huge bot networks spread disinformation on a national level through social media. They set up fake social media accounts to disrupt the elections on a mass scale and may even have had the full support of a foreign government.
Disinformation posts can be shared by thousands of other fake accounts or bots to reach a massive audience. If the posts influence just a handful of voters, the mission of affecting the elections negatively is accomplished. Disinformation posts aren’t limited to spreading lies on Election Day, they happen before, during and after the elections, too. Just as political campaigns attempt to sway you to vote for their candidate, threat actors do the same.
An Anonymous subgroup targeted an executive’s family member through social media, which led to a doxing campaign against the executive himself.
GroupSense Results:
Success: Reset executive’s accounts and assisted in identity protection for the executive and family.