Social Media Security Flashcards

What are privacy settings on social media and why should they be regularly reviewed?

Answer: Controls that determine who can see your content, contact you, and access your personal information, which platforms may change without notice

Privacy settings control the visibility of your profile, posts, and personal information, and should be regularly reviewed because platforms frequently update their policies and may reset or change default settings.

What is a social media bot and what security risks do bots pose?

Answer: Automated accounts that can spread misinformation, amplify malicious content, manipulate public opinion, and distribute phishing links at scale

Social media bots are automated accounts that can be used maliciously to spread disinformation, amplify propaganda, distribute malware links, inflate follower counts, and manipulate trending topics.

What is geotagging and why is it a privacy concern on social media?

Answer: Embedding location data in photos and posts that reveals your physical location, daily patterns, and travel movements

Geotagging embeds precise GPS coordinates in photos and posts, revealing your exact location, daily routine, frequent hangouts, and travel schedule to anyone who can view the content.

What is the security risk of social media quizzes and games that ask personal questions?

Answer: They may be designed to collect answers to common security questions used for account recovery and identity theft

Social media quizzes often ask questions identical to common account security questions—first pet, mother's maiden name, favorite teacher—allowing attackers to harvest this information for account takeover.

Why is it important to log out of social media accounts on shared or public computers?

Answer: Active sessions remain accessible to the next user, allowing them to access your messages, post as you, and change account settings

Failing to log out on shared computers leaves your session active, allowing the next user to access your entire account—messages, photos, personal data, and the ability to post or change settings on your behalf.

What is a deepfake and how does it threaten social media security?

Answer: AI-generated realistic fake video or audio that can impersonate real people, used for disinformation, fraud, and reputation damage on social media

Deepfakes use AI to create convincingly realistic fake videos and audio of real people, which can be shared on social media for disinformation, fraud, defamation, or social engineering.