Topics: Poverty, Pollution, Ponzi and Network Issues

What have the Researchers Learned about Network Security Issues in Social Media?

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What have the Researchers Learned about Network Security Issues in Social Media?

Social media usage has posed the greatest threat to the privacy of over 74% of its users as it exposes personal data through breaches and identity theft. This trend increases with the number of people using the platforms (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). Researchers found a solution to the challenge and reinstated privacy in social media usage to ensure that people’s data are safe and that no hackers could take advantage of them. The leading solutions included training, policy-making, and investment in software that enabled the people to remain safe at all times. Training and software solutions mitigated the challenge by ensuring that people using social media platforms are protected (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). On the other hand, the policy instilled punishment for offenders, making them avoid using social media to extract other people's data for personal gain. In India, the rate of data breaches due to social media usage was increasing exponentially (Mathias & Suma, 2018). As a result, individuals sustained losses in both personal and business life. However, the government set up a data protection policy that allowed training and installation of protection software and punished offenders. Consequently, the security issues were mitigated in the long run. Successful implementation of a data protection policy to regulate and monitor social media use and punish offenders will have a significant positive impact on the usage of social media platforms (Mathias & Suma, 2018).

Literature Review

Social media has long been a significant part of the lives of human beings across the globe (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). The popularity of various social media sites has grown tremendously and steadily year after year. The literature review, in this case, considers the different social networking sites, which include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, TikTok, and many others. The review factored in sources that focused on network security issues regarding social media use. It examined the significant points associated with social media use and how network security plays a role in the process. It was discernible that many social media users have prominently experienced network security problems. Saravanakumar et al. (2015) of the articles used surveys and systematic reviews to collect evidence on the network issues associated with social media sites.

Saravanakumar et al. (2015) pointed out that social media has become a central part of the lives of human beings. The researchers addressed different kinds of threats associated with network security on social media. The threats can affect social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. They expressed that vulnerability comes from using social media sites as individuals expose themselves to threats (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). These threats revolve around unauthorized access to the private information that individuals share on social media or put on their social profiles. Individuals ignore privacy measures that open them to dangers that break their privacy. Not being keen on some of the ways of ensuring privacy and protection makes it easier for malicious people to exploit unprotected social media accounts. Breach of information disclosure was regarded as a significant concern related to the privacy of social media users (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). Apart from privacy breaches, other attacks included passive attacks (anonymous and cannot be detected) and active attacks. The primary examples included social networking infrastructure attacks, malware attacks, phishing attacks, identity theft attacks, and cyberbullying. The study by Mathias & Suma (2018) provides a similar perspective in that social use has become pervasive and that the information of individuals is readily available and can be accessed by any individual with a smartphone which happens to come at a relatively low cost nowadays.

The Issue of Privacy of Social Media Users

The overbearing issue was associated with users' privacy on social media. According to Saravanakumar et al. (2015), social networking individuals are, for the most part, vulnerable to the exposure of their private information due to the challenges related to network security. Saravanakumar et al. (2015) utilized a quantitative system to analyze social information of potential users and obtain crucial details. The study was conducted in VIT University, India in the year 2015. To enhance this process, a survey system was widely used and distributed to over 200 social media users (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). They considered the different forms of attacks, including malware attacks, phishing attacks, identity theft, and cyberbullying. They classified the threats into three categories: privacy breaches, passive attacks, and active attacks (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). Overall, they showed that these threats affected the privacy of individuals on social media. The researchers integrated a discussion on social media companies' role in integrating security features on their websites. They emphasized protection as an essential factor that users should consider before engaging in social networking. Still, they pointed out that once individuals share information on social media, they lose control (Saravanakumar et al., 2015).

Like Saravanakumar et al. (2015), the central focus point of Shinde (2021) was on privacy concerns. As people from various points across the world utilize social media for different kinds of activities that they share online, such as their accomplishments, they get to attract potentially intrusive parties. Shinde (2021) provides several scenarios that show how individuals using social media unknowingly provide personal details, revealing vital details to malicious persons that such individuals should not have access to. He depicts that there are no effective means through which relevant parties, which include social media sites and users, can use to minimize the intrusion of the privacy of individuals on the networks (Shinde, 2021). A key takeaway is that there are challenges, such as the variation in the elements, constructs, and processes that make devices, and the drastic rise in social media users makes it tough to sustain privacy measures within such an environment (Shinde, 2021).

Social Media as a Tool for Propagating Negative Agenda

Bhosale & Bhange (2021) looked at how people misuse social media to promote misleading or harmful initiatives on social media. The study was conducted in 2020 and used systematic review of literature published between 2010 and 2019. These article focused on the fact that network security is virtually nonexistent when it comes to certain users having the ability to utilize social media sites to spread unfounded messages and promote undesirable discourse across society. Such agendas usually involve issues like fake news and rumors. Malicious individuals use social media accounts to share false and misleading news with other users who are largely unaware. The primary consequence Bhosale & Bhange (2021) present is that these issues can affect national security. As they show, the large number of social media users translates to a vast target base for some people to share opposing views or foster negative actions as they have access to users. The platforms may be applied to provocation or even radicalization of the population of users. Individuals share information with the construct meant to cause public upheaval. Such individuals can manipulate algorithms in order to take advantage of the cognitive vulnerabilities of other social media users (Bhosale & Bhange, 2021). Search engines direct users to misleading information, and social media connects them to like-minded accounts, which helps fuel the problem. There are also bots which are automated social media accounts. These accounts impersonate humans and help misguide people. Social media affects a wide range of facets of society, including academics, consumerism, and national security, with the last aspect being the locus of the study.

Network Security Awareness

A significant problem that comes across social media concerns the users' level of awareness on matters of their security. Mathias & Suma (2018) mainly focused on this area. The researchers considered the knowledge students in the given college have regarding network security. They showed that students are significantly exposed to social media, especially with the availability of internet resources. They emphasized that social media goes hand in hand with cybercrime, as the latter tends to rely on the former. According to Mathias & Suma (2018), the growth in digitization has meant that more people are exposed, and students need to be aware lest they fall into they become victims. They showed that the students need to understand security concerns and measures to better protect themselves from possible intrusion. Saravanakumar et al. (2015) and Shinde (2021) also addressed the subject of awareness. They all expressed that a substantial portion of social media users need to be made aware of network security issues and are thus not able to implement protective measures when social networking (Saravanakumar et al., 2015); Shinde, 2021).

Analysis of Literature

What ties all the articles together is the association between the popularity of social media sites and the resultant network security issues. The increased usage of networks has also driven challenges in security. Individuals are interested in being on social media but are not interested in security. The common factor across the studies by Saravanakumar et al. (2015), Shinde (2021), and Mathias & Suma (2018) is that the privacy of the information of users is at stake, and lack of awareness plays an integral role in driving this reality. It can be observed that, despite their age, all social media users' level of understanding and concern about protection varies, with a substantial portion of social media users needing to be keener on security. All studies indicated that this is something that users should pay more attention to. Scopus and JSTOR databases were applied in searching for the articles. The search terms were network security, social media, and social networking.

Bhosale & Bhange (2021) provided a different perspective in looking at the consequences that affect not only individual users but the nation's security as a whole. All researchers factored in different population sets though the outcome was similar in that social media users are vulnerable to security issues. The main thing is that there is a need for more security to avoid the dire impact that befalls users.

Discussion

 Social media has become an integral part of society as it connects people worldwide through the internet (Mathias & Suma, 2018). As a result, the issue of network security has become a challenge to most social media users (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). Therefore, there is a need for a policy framework to regulate and protect users against network threats such as viruses. A study by Mathias and Suma (2018) and another research by Ashetakr et al. (2019) established a need for more awareness about internet security among social media users in India. The data collected showed that most social media users share their personal information without considering their actions' possible risks and consequences. Mathias and Suma (2018) further found that although most government institutions use social media for formal communication, they are at risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks. Bhosale and Bhange (2021) argued that social media is an essential communication tool. However, it is used as an avenue to spread propaganda, hate speech, misinformation, and all sorts of social vices. The social vices lead to social unrest and social violence.

Evidence-Based Recommendation

Ashetakr et al. (2019) underscored the importance of educating social media users on protecting their social media accounts against the current forms of cyber-attacks. The study recommends that the government enact a policy framework to protect individual and institutional networks against cyber-attacks. The policy should provide harsh punishment to cybercriminals. On the other hand, Bhosale and Bhange (2021) argued that the issue of social media and network security is an evolving problem that does not have a simple solution. Social media cyber security requires a multidisciplinary approach where various stakeholders, such as owners, researchers, government, and end users, come together to formulate appropriate policies and regulations. Social media platforms contain large amounts of user data (Ashetakr et al., 2019). Therefore, most cybercriminals target social media sites to commit crimes such as phishing, malware, and other cyber-attacks (Saravanakumar et al., 2015).

Social media user behaviors are crucial to ensuring network security. Uninformed social media share sensitive information such as login credentials, financial information, and personal details. Saravanakumar et al. (2015) state that cybercriminals target such information online. Therefore, one of the most effective strategies is creating network security awareness among users (Ashetakr et al., 2019). Both social media company owners and government institutions should ensure users are well informed about the importance of network security and keeping the information secure. There is a need for the proper regulation of social media to ensure that they are not used as an avenue for spreading harmful content. Some of the content shared on social media pose a national security concern. Therefore, the government should enact policies to stipulate the type of content one can share (Bhosale & Bhange, 2021). Although significant steps have been taken to safeguard social media users against network security, there is still a need for more regulations.

Conclusion

Successful implementation of a data protection policy to regulate and monitor social media use and punish offenders will have a significant positive impact on the usage of social media platforms (Mathias & Suma, 2018). This trend increases with the number of people using the platforms. As noticed in one of India's mitigation strategies, setting up policies to regulate social media usage for improved protection. The Indian privacy policy allows people to enjoy social media features upon attaining the minimum security features and must confirm information. Failure to offer confirmation jeopardizes the usage and restrains a person (Ashetakr et al., 2019). The policy increases accountability and makes it easier to monitor and apprehend all people involved in data breaches. Social media users are 76% more likely to lose their private data if they are not protected by adequate law and the appropriate investment in artificial intelligence (Saravanakumar et al., 2015). The rising cases may have a tremendous negative impact on users' lives and their businesses. The severe adverse impacts can be reduced globally by implementing the appropriate policies similar to those implemented in India. Social media usage has posed the greatest threat to the privacy of over 74% of its users as it exposes personal data through breaches and identity theft (Saravanakumar et al., 2015).

References

Ashetakr, R., Mahalle, P. & Shinde, G. (2019). 5. Users’ privacy at online social networks in Indian context: comprehensive multi-aged group survey and discussion. In N. Dey, G. Shinde, P. Mahalle & H. Olesen (Ed.), The Internet of Everything: Advances, Challenges, and Applications (pp. 95–108). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110628517-006

Bhosale, D. V. & Bhange, C. B. (2021). Understanding Social Media Tools, Impact over National Security - A Literature Review. Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science 9 (6) 33-38. https://www.questjournals.org/jrhss/papers/vol9-issue6/Ser-2/F09063338.pdf

Mathias, D. A. P. & Suma, B. (2018). A Survey On Social Networking and Awareness About Related Cyber Threats Among Youth in Government Institutions of India and an Attempt to Educate Them . International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET. https://www.irjet.net/archives/V5/i11/IRJET-V5I11273.pdf

Saravanakumar, K., Kumar, S. & Deepa, K. (2015). On Privacy and Security in Social Media – A Comprehensive Study. Procedia Computer Science 78 (114 – 119). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.02.019