Technology can be described as a two-way sword because it has both positive and negative effects for businesses, governments, and individuals. Technological advancement has led to the emergence of cybersecurity, which has been identified as one of the national and economic challenges facing many governments. However, the governments have not prepared themselves adequately to counter those challenges since they threaten the security of the nation and citizens. To understand the concept of cybersecurity, it is important to understand the impact of social networking. This paper discusses the impact of social networking on understanding the concept of cybersecurity.
The impact of social networking in the understanding of cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the protection of systems, networks, and confidential data in cyberspace against hackers (Kramer, 2009). This protection faces many challenges because of the increased and the mutating nature of cybercrime, cyber wars, and cyber terror due to the increased use of social networks. Social networking is liked by many people because it connects them across the world. Social media gives people an opportunity to share personal information on the internet, such as credit numbers, home addresses, and social security numbers (Kramer, 2009). This increases the risk of cyberattacks because the hackers may easily get access to such information, thus posing a challenge to cybersecurity. Therefore, it is the duty of the companies dealing with personal information to take maximum protection of the information to avoid accidental exposure or hacking into the system.
In the US, identity fraud has increased to 13% since 2011, and most of this fraud takes place through social media sites (Kramer, 2009). Thus, understanding social networking provided a better opportunity for understanding the challenges of cybersecurity. With the increased use of social networking, most people have spread their personal information all over social media sites. Moreover, the extended use of the mobile application to personal banking and online businesses has made personal information available on the internet. This has led hackers to have easy access to personal information. This implies that the security of personal information is at the mercy of the organizations that handle such sensitive information. The companies must comply with rules and regulations governing the protection of personal data from exposure to unauthorized persons on social media sites. The companies must have systems to identify any threats and respond immediately to counter any bridges (Kramer, 2009).
Cyberattacks are usually becoming more complicated and are happening on a large scale via social networking. Research provides that understanding how social networking operates provides a good opportunity for the government and organizations to understand cybersecurity so that organizations can plan and device better ways of protecting sensitive information. The complications of cyberattacks cannot stop the government or companies from stopping using technology applications because people are so connected through social media. They can only have solutions that will help them identify the attacks and respond in real-time. Leaders and information technology professionals need to concerned with the issue of cybersecurity and discuss better ways of improving the methods of dealing with cybersecurity challenges (Kramer, 2009)
Conclusion
In conclusion, social networking contributes to cybercrime. Actually, social networks provide a conducive environment for the internet pirates to steal data through malware and get access to confidential personal information such as financial data or passwords. Therefore, when sharing information on the internet, it is important to share the information carefully (Kramer, 2009).
Reference
Kramer, F.D. (2009). Cyberpower & National Security. New York: Potomac Books.