Social media is a collective set of online communication channels that are used for communication and content sharing among people worldwide. It is considered the cheapest and most reliable way to communicate with people worldwide. Nowadays, in business organizations and among common users, social media is highly preferred to use for communication purposes. Whether there are some benefits of social media but some challenges and problems are also attached with this technology. Those challenges are mostly related to security and privacy issues of sensitive information of users. Now, in upcoming paragraphs of this report, I would like to discuss some essential issues of social media and other essential concepts related to this.
Here are some essential challenges of security and privacy associated with social media.
There are several issues regarding security and privacy in social media have encountered by its users. In this case, the main challenge is to select best strategy that can control security and privacy related issues across the world. It is very hard to figure out an appropriate strategy to get rid of this problem (Searchsecurity.techtarget.com, 2017).
The next essential challenge is to maintain reputation of companies that are providing social media services and applications to its customers. If they will not satisfied customers then it will let their image down and it will also effect revenue of their business (eClincher, 2017).
The awareness about latest tools and techniques that can help to maintain security while using social networking sites is also necessary to spread among users. This is because, most of the people are not careful about these tools and they have to face problems.
Besides above challenging factors, there are some essential problems that are faced by users of social media due to its privacy and security issues.
1. The first major problem is related to stealing of personal information of users that is sent over social networking sites by users. This information is stored into database of company, but due to lack of proper security of database information can be stolen by hackers.
2. Nowadays, social media is misused by some people. The fake videos, audios and messages are spread all around to make fool of people. Hackers also use this technique to collect sum amount of money from users by giving them fake offers through these media elements. Furthermore, when a user opens any unknown link on social media websites then that link may have an attached vulnerable virus that can enter into their system and collect important information (MakeUseOf, 2017).
The above discussed problems and challenges regarding social media cannot be ignored, otherwise these problems can become too difficult to control. Here some relevant technologies available that can be used to control above discussed issues of social media regarding security and privacy of users’ information (Fast Company, 2017).
1. The first technique is to protect web server and social media websites that are used for communication and content sharing, by using Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It is a secure networking layer and can protect information that will be transferred over network.
2. Another technique is to use strong login credentials for social media accounts. It is so easy for hackers to guess weak passwords. Therefore, for better protection, both usernames and passwords should be strong.
3. The technique of encryption should be used to store information into databases. The encrypted form of information is hard to understand and required a decryption key to read original information. It is also a better way to sustain security and privacy of data into database for long time (Senthil Kumar N, Saravanakumar K & Deepa K, 2017).
The above discussed technologies to maintain security and privacy of data on social media have wide range of applications. To secure computer systems, networks, websites, web server and online databases, these above mentioned technologies can be used. Most business organizations and other users prefer to use these techniques to maintain security and privacy of databases (Hootsuite Social Media Management, 2017).
In this discussion about security and privacy issues with social media, it is also necessary to emphasize on some unclear areas of this topic. One of the unknown or unclear facts is about storage of hefty amount of users’ information by social media websites. If storage of information will be stored in appropriate way then security will be increased. It is essential for social media users to understand that large servers are used by companies to store huge amount of information (methodshop, 2017). But security of those servers is not defined yet by companies. Other unclear issue is regarding installation of malware on computers while using social media. It can be possible by using ads that contain viruses. Whenever while using social media, those ads are clicked or downloaded by users then attached malware can be entered into system. Therefore, it is necessary for users to be aware about these unclear areas of social media (Econsultancy, 2017).
Question 1: Is privacy a big issue for social media?
Answer: Yes, there is no doubt to say that privacy is a big issue for social media. There are several social media users those have faced problems of security and privacy regarding their information.
Question 2: How issues of security and privacy can be resolved at social networking?
Answer: There are various methods available that can be used to resolve problems of security and privacy at social networking. Most commonly used methods are use of anti-virus to restrict unknown entities to enter into system, use of strong login credentials and storage of encrypted information into databases (HuffPost, 2017).
In selected forum the main discussed issues are related to challenges to manage security and privacy issues in social media. All issues are discussed appropriately and these must be taken into consideration by all users. It is right that due to issues of security and privacy of information, the reputation of company that provides services goes down. In this given information, I would like to add that at developers of social networking sites are doing efforts to control these critical challenges of lack of security and privacy. Moreover, various contemporary tools have already available to use for this purpose (Langheinrich & Karjoth, 2010).
The above discussed all issues and challenges regarding security and privacy of social media have very bad impact on the real world. The issues of stealing of confidential information, damage of company’s large databases and hacking of networks that are used for sending and receiving confidential information are increasing day by day. Moreover, through social media problem of posting of fake content, videos and messages etc. is increasing and several people have faced loss due to this issue. That is why there is no doubt to say that the security related issues of social media need to be resolve as soon as possible by security experts (Ieeexplore.ieee.org, 2017).
In selected forum, most of the selected information is accurate and required. But one essential thing that is not mentioned in this forum is that due to above discussed challenges not only business organizations and users, but also social media marketers are getting affected. The main challenges that are faced by social media marketers are maintenance of security of internal resources, development of social media marketing strategies and identification of right social media tools for management (Cse.wustl.edu, 2017). This issue is necessary to discuss here because social media marketers are those who responsible for making social media strategies and to provide security and privacy of users’ data. If these professionals will also be affected by social media challenges then how they can provide better services further. It means they have to think in logical way to resolve these issues.
From above discussion, I learnt that whether social media has become an easier way of communication and content sharing but besides this, users have not surety about security of their information (nadikari123, 2017). It is responsibility of companies that they should understand this critical issue thoroughly and must use advanced security tools and techniques for maintaining security of data for long time. It is a matter of customer’s trust that they provide their personal and credit card information to social networking websites and must be taken seriously by social media companies (Zheleva, Terzi & Getoor, 2012).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the security and privacy related issues of social media are very important to resolve. With the advancement and maximum usage of social media among people worldwide, these issues are increasing. Moreover, some people are not aware about privacy policy of social media and due to that they do not follow security standards while using social networking sites and try to post illegal and restricted content. Here, it is responsibility of companies to forbid the posting of harmful and illegal material on websites. It will be helpful to manage overall security of social networking sites and its databases.
References
Searchsecurity.techtarget.com. (2017). Social media security risks news, help and research – SearchSecurity. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/resources/Social-media-security-risks-and-real-time-communication-security
Fast Company. (2017). Privacy and Security Issues in Social Networking. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.fastcompany.com/1030397/privacy-and-security-issues-social-networking
methodshop. (2017). 6 Really Scary Facts About Your Privacy on the Internet. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.methodshop.com/2015/03/internet-privacy-facts.shtml
MakeUseOf. (2017). 12 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/12-social-media-facts-statistics-know-2016/
Langheinrich, M., & Karjoth, G. (2010). Social networking and the risk to companies and institutions. Information Security Technical Report, 15(2), 51-56. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.istr.2010.09.001
Cse.wustl.edu. (2017). A Survey of Privacy and Security Issues in Social Networks. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse571-11/ftp/social/index.html
Senthil Kumar N, Saravanakumar K, & Deepa K. (2017). On Privacy and Security in Social Media – A Comprehensive Study. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050916000211
eClincher. (2017). Biggest Challenges Facing Social Media Marketers – eClincher. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://eclincher.com/blog/biggest-challenges-facing-social-media-marketers/
Econsultancy. (2017). The four biggest challenges facing social media strategists. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://econsultancy.com/blog/67913-the-four-biggest-challenges-facing-social-media-strategists
Ieeexplore.ieee.org. (2017). Solutions to Security and Privacy Issues in Mobile Social Networking – IEEE Conference Publication. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5283078/
nadikari123. (2017). Social network privacy & security. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/nadikari123/social-network-privacy-security
Hootsuite Social Media Management. (2017). 5 Social Media Security Risks and How to Avoid Them. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-security-for-business/
HuffPost.(2017). Social Media Privacy and Personal Security Issues. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-siciliano/social-media-privacy-and_b_245857.html
Zheleva, E., Terzi, E., & Getoor, L. (2012). Privacy in social networks. San Rafael, Calif. (1537 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA): Morgan & Claypool.
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