Accepting unknown profiles on Social Networks increases the risk of cyberattacks

•  S2 Group has warned that another of the dangers associated with this practice may be social engineering attacks.
• The cybersecurity company has pointed out that this practice puts at risk not only the user but also the rest of their contacts, among which you can find the family itself.

Valencia, October 28, 2016.- S2 Grupo, a company specialized in cybersecurity, has warned that accepting unknown profiles in Social Networks is a factor that increases the risk of cyberattacks and even possible cyber-attacks. The company has pointed out that if this practice is very dangerous in the case of minors, so it is in the case of adults as more and more cyber-attackers attack mainly users who appear in their state as "married", for example, to earn their trust, get intimate information and then extort them by threatening to make it public if they do not pay a certain amount of money. "The possibility offered by some of these environments to speak in private, before being "friends", allows some people to gain confidence with the possible attacker, later send a friend request and that is when he can begin to use sensitive information which endangers the user. Some examples are to get their email and send them documents that contain viruses or directly blackmail them if he managed to have them send him some daring photo", said Rafael Rosell, Sales Director of S2 Grupo. The company has also pointed out that accepting strangers is a practice that puts at risk not only the user but also the rest of their contacts since the verification that they have several friends in common, directly increases their confidence and credibility on this person. "By giving strangers our confidence by allowing them to enter our small circle of friends, it gives them a good alibi to attack, in turn, our entire circle. They, now, give a plus of confidence to that new contact that asks us to accept him, based on a number of common friends. Therefore, with this thoughtless attitude, we are endangering our entire circle of "real" friends, even our children", said Rosell. In addition to being exposed to possible cyberbullying, other risks associated are:

1. Physical attacks - it is possible that they occur when knowing through the Social Networks the living habits of the user (places visited, what time, etc.)
2. Increased exposure of systems: by trusting that person we can open any document he sends us which can contain malware that infects and disables our computer, tablet or smartphone. Some examples are Trojan viruses or ransomware actions (they "hijack" the computer by blocking it and display a message that requires you to pay an amount of money to be able to use it again).

More information: prensa@s2grupo.es