Privacy Risks and Security Threats in Online Social Networks

Abstract

Online social networks (OSN) have served as a catalyst in increasing social interaction in the 21st century. Because of their nature, social networks attract many people where they can share information such as text and multimedia content using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. While OSNs provide a simple and fun way to share information about one’s self, these networks also give rise to new and serious privacy and security issues that could potentially harm users in serious manners. Phishing attacks, the spread of malware, internet fraud, online stalking are a few examples of the vast landscape of possible security dangers that target OSNs. This paper is intended to reach the general audience and will focus on the privacy concerns and classic security threats in OSNs.