Social Media Safety – Facebook

With the rise of social media came the rise of private information becoming accessible to just about anyone who knows how to use the internet!

With the right safety precautions you can still enjoy Facebook and other social media networks, but always make sure to use these safety tips.

Make sure your password is secure

With all your personal information exposed on Facebook, it can be easy for someone to guess your password. A good password should have a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

Don’t friend people you don’t know

If you don’t know who they are why would you become friends with them? It may seem innocent, but cybercriminals often use fake profiles to send out spam and even steal your personal info.

Protect your location

While it may seem fun to share a photo of yourself and then add your location, it has some hidden risks. Potential criminals can easily see whether you are home or not, allowing them to take advantage and break in. Another danger you could face includes stalkers!

Change who can see your personal information

Have you listed your address and phone number on Facebook? It may seem handy to do so, but you don’t want everyone seeing this information. For maximum privacy, make sure to set these to be “me only” or choose who gets to see what.

NEVER overshare

The best way to be safe? Have some common sense! Be sure that what you’re posting online will not compromise your safety. Did you know that a deleted photo will remain on the Facebook servers for months after it is gone? It is harder to retract information, so simply do not share it in the first place!

It’s better to be safe than sorry, so go ahead and use these safety tips!

Need help with your social media security? Contact our Digital Forensics department on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

Did you know Digital Forensics Investigators use Social Media Networks to gather Evidence?

When it comes to social media networks, there is a lot under the surface that you may not see… It’s not just “likes”, “shares” and “stories”, there is vital evidence and records that are imbedded into all social media sites, particularly, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

In most investigations, digital forensics experts are scouring social media platforms because:

> A background check needs to be conducted
> Someone is making an accusation against a witness
> A corporate position on an issue, fact or circumstance needs to be determined
> Proof regarding someone being cyber bullied or threatened
> Establishing association between two people
> Evidencing intent, weakness or motive
> Investigating someone’s physical location in regards to their alibi

Over the years people have argued that using social media networks to acquire evidence against them violates their privacy rights, whether the site itself infringes the privacy of its users or even whether illegal activity occurs with actual knowledge of it happening.

When it comes to this it is vital that the digital evidence is preserved and gathered in the proper way. To properly collect and authenticate social networking content, the correct tools and programs need to be used at all times.

Significant digital forensics skills are needed to analyze the preserved data to answer questions like:

- Who is posting the content?
- Is the content offensive and can it be used in convincing evidence to a real, live person?
- When was this content posted to social media?
- How much of it exists across the entire social networking platform?
- What other related evidence is there?
- How accurate is the reported physical location?

Everyone uses social media; it is a vital part of our lives no matter how much you deny it. So, because people choose to broadcast their personal lives to the public, digital forensic investigators can use it to get current and accurate evidence.

At TCG Digital Forensics, we can provide you with a wide variety of services, from OSINT services, social media investigations and data recovery to digital suspect profiling and CCTV image verification.