Cybersecurity experts warn that posting this type of personal information is only increasing your risk of having your personal information in the hands of scammers and hackers.
“This is not new,” Michael McCartney, President of Avalon Cyber, said. “You need to really be careful about the information you’re providing in your social media sites, whether it’s Instagram or Facebook or even LinkedIn. You need to clean up your profiles. The cybercriminal today has nothing but time on their hands.”
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McCartney gave the example of the 2015 Anthem medical data breach, where stolen social media information led to the hack that impacted more than 37 million people.
In the real world, health experts have insisted that individuals practice healthy hygiene such as washing hands. Vishwanath said people can also practice healthy cyber hygiene.
“Be more careful about what you post out there,” Vishwanath warned. “Be more careful about who you are inviting into these chatrooms and online forums. And be cautious because the bad guys are still working just as hard as before all this took place.”
READ MORE: FBI WARNS OF COVID-19 SCHEMES
The FBI has also warned people about a variety of scams that have become prevalent during the coronavirus pandemic. Those scams include using other people, known as money mules, into moving illegal money through funds transfers, physical movement of cash, or other various methods. Money mules are targeted through online job schemes or dating websites and apps. The FBI warns of work-from-home schemes and people claiming they’re located overseas and are asking for money,
The FBI also warns that cyber actors are trying to take advantage of the pandemic and the use of virtual environments. They’re warning about software vulnerabilities, business email compromise, and more.