In two recent posts, here and here, I explored the subject of business threats from social media. In those previous two posts I referenced an ENISA (the European Network and Information Security Agency) white paper which outlines general threats from social networks, most of which are of a technical, infrastructure nature. Yet, many of the threats they outlined were not technically oriented. Those are the sort in which I’m most interested. My interest lies in pointing out the informational, content threats that exist for business in the open forum that is social media. It’s this type of threat that this series of posts is about.
Today’s post references ENISA designated Threat SN.11, Infiltration of Networks, shown on page 4 of the ENISA white paper. Threat SN.11 points out that, in social networks, information is restricted to a member’s group of friends or contacts. That, says ENISA, is the first line of defense in privacy protection on social networks. But this line of defense is not fool-proof because members will often accept friend or connection invitations or solicitations from persons known only tangentially and sometimes not at all. Now for business people, this hole in the system shouldn’t present a major problem, if they watch what they say within the network. Yet, both you and I know that this is not always the case. Loose lips sink ships, remember.
Given that humans are human and people make mistakes, even the most careful of us, you as a social network member at some point will likely give up a little kernel of knowledge about your business or about your company. It might only be a small piece of seemingly inconsequential information; perhaps something like a mention that you are taking a business trip to Albuquerque next week. Generally most folks aren’t going to care about such banal statements. Many of us, in fact, consider such statements on social networks as ego gratification which elicit in the minds of many readers the phrase, “Who gives a F?”
But there could very well be, lurking in your “friends” or “connections” list a friend or connection who isn’t who they say. Think about it. How easily do you let people into your network? Would you let them into your house as easily? And when that secret agent sees that you are going to Albuquerque, he or she will put that together with other info about you or your company, drawing more complete competitive conclusions about your rivalry and your company’s strengths and weakenesses. But Albuquerque? What does that mean?
Probably nothing to most people. But for intelligence agents in your industry, let’s just imagine that in Albuquerque resides one of the foremost marketing whizzes in your kind of business. This guru has the ability to turn lead into gold. Well, not literally, of course (I think alchemy went extinct in the 15th century 
), but you get the idea. Or maybe in Albuquerque there is headquartered a company creating manufacturing technologies that are years ahead of their time, and can save any company in your industry at least 25% off manufacturing costs annually. Wouldn’t either of these scenarios be something in which that lurking secret agent would be interested? The answer is obvious.
So, again food for thought. In future posts, I’ll be exploring more business threats from social media. Subscribe free to our RSS alert so you won’t miss a post.
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