Consider the Extraordinary Security Risks of Social Media

Here, hpematter.co explains the enormous lifetime security risks of social media.

Social media’s dark side: It isn’t just the vast amount of personally identifiable information (PII) that’s there that makes it a treasure trove for hackers and other criminals. It is also that the shared information may be around forever.

Social media sites use terabyte upon terabyte of storage right now, which is expected to increase, said Mark Painter, security evangelist with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The PII gathered is too valuable to discard.

Too many people use social media for digital photo albums or as an online journal for future reference, making it necessary for social media platforms to offer virtually unlimited, timeless storage. “People aren’t thinking of security or privacy risks when they post stuff,” said Painter. “They are thinking of how it benefits them, even if just for positive reinforcement from ‘likes’.”