In the News
In Facebook sues Ukrainians over quizzes packed with adware stealing data, Alfred Ng at CNET discusses how quizzes on browser extensions allowed for data theft of over 80,00 Facebook users. Ng explains that users were lured in by the popular style of entertainment quizzes advertised and were successful in stealing personal user data including data of a user’s Facebook friends.
Our Take
Although most people view entertainment quizzes as a fun use of spare time, there are significant security dangers of these increasingly popular quizzes. While many websites and platforms offer harmless quizzes with engaging content, many malicious attackers use the popularity of these quizzes to install malware on your devices and steal your data. In order to protect yourself from these potential dangers, caution is required when participating in these online quizzes. Not all websites hosting these quizzes are alike and ensuring that you only utilize safe and legitimate websites is crucial to protecting your data privacy.
Recommendations
How can you protect your personal data from malicious attackers?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Refrain from clicking on ads and quizzes embedded in a social media platform
- Always verify the platform hosting your content
- Know your rights when it comes to data use and storage
- Refrain from sharing highly sensitive information through messaging apps and services
- Utilize additional security/privacy measures and settings on apps, accounts, and platforms whenever possible