While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage communities around the world, schools have been shut down for over a month in most places. Many will likely remain shuttered for the remainder of the school year, meaning that this year’s seniors will miss one of the best years of their young lives.
This has prompted a new Facebook trend where people around the world are posting their own senior photos in support of the class of 2020. While the trend may seem innocent, it can have detrimental consequences.
Hackers Leverage Social Media Users
According to a recent warning from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), users should avoid partaking in this trend. This warning is primarily in response to the senior photo trend, but also includes photos of old cars, as well as other ‘favorite old things’ lists.
The reason for this is simple, and it revolves around data mining. Simply put, many people tend to use things they know and love when choosing their passwords. By posting photos of their favorite things, such as their old cars, best friends, old beloved pets, and other things that matter to them, they are giving hackers all the data they need to get them closer to guessing the users’ passwords.
Danielle Kane, the Oregon State Director for the BBB recently warned against such practices, saying that, ‘While this may seem innocent enough, bad actors use this information for data mining — as many of these games include answers that are clues to security questions on private accounts…making it easier to hack your accounts or steal your identity.’
Kane stressed that there is no certainty that anyone will actually get hacked, but people should consider that any of this information that has been compiled may end up being used against them months or years from now.
New Facebook Bug puts iPhone Users in Danger
Most social media platforms already put users in danger due to the huge amounts of data that they share. These platforms do not have a great track record when it comes to securing this data and are constantly fighting against exploits and bugs.
One such bug turns on users’ iPhone camera when scrolling their Facebook feed:
Found a @facebook #security & #privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed. Note that I had the camera pointed at the carpet. pic.twitter.com/B8b9oE1nbl
— Joshua Maddux (@JoshuaMaddux) November 10, 2019