Hackers are very creative when it comes to acquiring your private data. Sometimes, we even participate in things that lead the threat actors to collect data so easily, and we don't even know it. A cybersecurity expert spotted a social media trend that could do just that.
Instagram Trend That Could Lead to a Hack
Social media platforms have no shortage of trends that you can follow, including the ones that should not have been a trend in the first place. Although the Instagram trend in question seems innocent enough that people did not think it would be a risk for anything.
Titled "Get to Know Me," it consists of information about the user they want to share such as their age, height, birthday, tattoos, piercings, phobia, favorite place, favorite season, favorite food, favorite drink, and so on.
A cyber and strategic risk analyst, Eliana Shiloh posted a TikTok video warning users of the potential harm that this could pose, saying that she also fell victim to the trend and as she started to fill it out, she realized that they were quite revealing.
As mentioned in Business Insider, Shiloh expressed that some of the information she was about to fill out matched security questions that were linked to some of her personal accounts. Hackers can use this information as they can get resourceful.
@elshiloh literally delete rn save yourself!! #cybersecurity #hackers #instagramtrend ♬ original sound - eliana shiloh
The cybersecurity expert advised people to delete whatever they posted as soon as they can, as well as any proof of it on the internet. Some argue that she was reaching and that the information revealed in the trend had nothing to do with security questions.
National Cybersecurity Alliance's Executive Director, Lisa Plaggemier also disputed Shiloh's statement, saying that most people no longer have security questions at all since most accounts can now be recovered using multi-factor authentication or codes sent through texts.
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Is The Trend Safe?
Even if an executive director dismissed the possibility that the given information through the trend has a very slim chance of working when breaching an account, it's still not safe to give that sort of information away online.
Plaggemier expressed that with the available data, threat actors will have an easier time researching the user who posted them. They can even be used for social engineering tactics and phishing attacks.
Instagram stories only last for 24 hours, so this also limits the access that hackers may have as they cannot view it after that. However, some are also posting this on TikTok, and if their account is public, then bad actors can view them anytime they want.
It will be as easy as searching "Get To Know Me" and there will be a trove of information for bad actors to see. Regardless of whether it will work or not, it's still not a good practice to give away information online for anyone to see.
Something as simple as a date of birth can be used for impersonation, and adding a favorite place may give away where you're located. Any kind of data personal to you can be used by threat actors for a number of cyberattacks.
Related: Ethically Questionable TikTok Trend Uses Strangers as Video Subjects
