Those facebook quizes are fun, aren’t they?

I’ve noticed an increase in Facebook quizes in my feed the past few weeks. They are typically shared by the extremely active facebook “friends” and even appear as “suggested for you” posts or “sponsored” posts in my timeline.

The problem with these are that they almost always invite you to overshare information on social media. Often it is about the top 10 concerts you’ve attended or a some fun facts people might not know about you. They also often lure you with “Only a true genius will score 100 per cent on this quiz.” They may seem innocent, but these quizzes can put you in the crosshairs for attackers, both physical and online.

So why shouldn’t you share too much on social media?

• Criminals steal your password
  Criminals look for any information that they could use to guess passwords. Often, it doesn’t take much.  People will use “123456”, “123456789″, “Password” or maybe P4ssw0rd” because it is convenient. Criminals often simply try the most common passwords and succeed nearly 50% of the time. Sometimes people will use passwords that are slightly more complex, by adding a number after their street name or school’s name or maybe their dogs name. Criminals will use automated tools to test combinations of things you might have happily shared on social media to guess your password.
  Criminals will also use information they obtained from these quizes to guess the answers to security questions to break into your accounts. Security questions are typically like the name of your first pet, the town where you grew up, or your mother’s maiden name. It is no wonder why random quizes on Facebook try to trick you into sharing this information for the whole world to see?
• Social Engineering and Phising
  Any information you posts on social media can also be used by criminals to craft social engineering attacks. Your personal information makes it easy for an attacker to customise a message or e-mail to you that looks legitimate. For example, if they know you like to go to a specific resort on vacation an offer for discounts at the resort will have a much higher chance of success. Criminals drive users to phishing pages and malware exploits with this tactic. The message will be even more effective you think it comes from someone you know or from an organisation you know. Criminals often create fake accounts or even hack into real accounts for this purpose.
• Good old fashioned physical theft
  It is great to post pictures of your trip while you are on vacation. If an criminal knows where you live — an easy thing to figure out in the age of social media , especially if you list it on your profile, enable geolocation of your posts or have ever posted photos from in or around your house — they will have all the information they need to break in, knowing that you are not there.
  

I’m not saying stop using social media, but be careful what you share. Think about the possible consequences before sharing that information to the rest of the world. Also look at the privacy settings of the social media platform and make sure that you share information only to those you wish to have access to it.