The Dangers Of LinkedIn: Internal Phishing Scams To Be Aware Of

It's crucial for businesses of all sizes to take effective measures when it comes to cybersecurity.

Protecting your business from cyber attacks is a priority for any online business. In this digital age, many hackers and cyber attackers often target unsuspecting employees through various forms of phishing. In this article, we will be discussing what phishing is, the dangers of social media such as LinkedIn, and how you can best protect your business from these online threats. 

What is Phishing and Why is it Dangerous?

Phishing scams are targeted online attacks from cyber attackers that aim to trick and deceive employees into giving sensitive information that can harm your business. These scams can come in various forms, from email phishing, SMS phishing, and phishing through social media. LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform that showcases your current job status and skills. Having this information readily available can potentially make you a target for phishing scams. 

How Can LinkedIn Become Dangerous? 

Cyber attacks can use LinkedIn and the information on the website to phish from unsuspecting users. There are multiple ways in which attackers can deceive, and manipulate users into revealing sensitive information about the business they work for. Below are some of the common scams that take place on the social platform. 

Social Engineering 

This technique refers to the deception of individuals for malicious purposes online. Hackers can harvest information from individuals on LinkedIn and pose as them through a fake profile. With these fake profiles, they can then target the employees that work for these individuals and trick them into divulging personal information. For example, hackers can take the information from a CEO’s company, and create a fake profile to target the employees that work in the company. Through a direct message on LinkedIn, hackers can trick employees into clicking on malicious links, revealing information, and other fraudulent activities. 

Data Harvesting 

This is where cyber attacks will scrape your data from various sources like your online accounts such as LinkedIn, and they will then use this information for fraudulent purposes. The information gathered from your LinkedIn account can be used against you for a targeted attack, or even identity theft. There are several ways to mitigate these risks, such as using a VPN, working with cybersecurity experts, and adjusting your privacy settings.

Public Profile Information 

One of the main dangers of LinkedIn is unknowingly sharing your personal information, which can actually put you at risk of a cyber attack. Sharing sensitive information on your public LinkedIn profile means cybercriminals can leverage this information for targeted attacks or social engineering.

How Can Your Business Mitigate the Risks? 

There are several ways to mitigate the risk of targeted phishing scams. The most effective way is to work with cybersecurity experts to establish best practices in order to protect your business and employees. Cybersecurity specialists can train your employees to detect phishing scams through various phishing simulations, to rescue the risk of them falling for a cyber attack.