Generation z has become proto-adults and growing up like you could dream of. They use digital phones, the internet, and computer devices as their bread and butter. You may wonder about social media news feeds. Teens are busy sending and receiving messages, videos, photos, and media to their friends without their knowledge. They could send anything to anyone at any time. Seemingly, you may call it fun, but the truth is your teens are in big trouble and breaching their privacy one way or the other on social media apps. So, parents need to get connected to kids’ digital phones and take control manually or with the help of technology. Before we discuss any service that purports privacy, you need to know social networking, directly and indirectly, puts teen’s privacy at stake.
Online Attacks That Could Breach Teen’s Privacy Through Social Networking Apps
Several privacy issues teens can face on social networking apps while they share contacts, photos, videos, audios, names, and many more. Online attackers can use the information of teens’ social media profiles for various criminal offenses. So, the privacy risks are rising, and they can successfully target your teens.
- Location breaching
- Photos & shared videos
- Name & contacts
- Identity theft
- Explicit shared videos
- And many more!!!!!!!!!
Top 10 Conventional Threats To Teen’s Privacy on Social Media
1) Cross-Site Scripting Attack
The attacker uses malicious JavaScript on the target social network profile or browser, and the target profile will be under the influence of the attack within one click. The techniques of this attack are classified yet, and it is a modern-day online attack on someone’s social media profile or web browsers. The target person could receive multiple URLs and fascinating buttons that targeted teens try to click. It will steal the information within time.
2) Profile Cloning Attack
The infiltrator can use a profile cloning attack by getting the target teen’s profile information. Attackers are more likely to design a clone profile and create a trust-building relationship with the target profile owner’s friend. Once the connection builds with the target teen’s friends, the attacker makes their friends believe that the profile is genuine and steal the information on the actual profile. The attackers also use this trick to do other online criminal offenses, like cyber stalking, cyberbullying, and blackmailing young teenagers.
3) Hijacking To Control Social Media Account
Hijacking is an online attack that empowers attackers to take over the target social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and many more. People use that technique to do online frauds, and they always try to target young teenagers’ social media accounts with weak passwords. Moreover, they can also send malicious links that could harm the reputation of the target person.
4) Inference Attack
It is one of the dangerous attacks on someone’s social media accounts. The inference attack can steal valuable information hidden on teens’ social media accounts. It consists of data mining techniques to steal data like target person friend list. The attacker can also steal organizational information or target teens’ educational information.
5) De-Anonymization Attack
It is a technique that unveils the real identity of the target person on social media networks. Tech-savvy online predators can reveal the teen’s identity behind fake profiles on social media networks like Instagram and Facebook. Teens are more likely to create fake and explicit profiles, and the De-anonymization technique can reveal the identity of the hidden teen behind a social media network.
6) Cyber Espionage
Cyber espionage consists of malicious Spywares that attackers install on the target devices. Moreover, social engineering methods on social networking sites could steal target person emails, passwords, photos, videos, and other kinds of personal data that no one would like to share with anyone except with a few.
Other Typical Privacy Attacks on Teen’s Social Networks:
Here are the typical cyber-attacks that teens could face on their social media apps no time ever before, and they could breach privacy:
7) Spam attack
8) Malware attack
9) Phishing
10) Identity Theft
Top Social Media & Networking Apps at Verge Breaching Teen's Privacy
Here are the top five social networks that allow teens to share their privacy to anyone, and despite their security measures they can put their identity, data, photos, and location at stake.
Snapchat - The fastest way to share a moment!
Snapchat is a social messaging app popular among teens and allowed for 12 years old. It has a poor reputation for privacy for sending and receiving explicit photos, videos, and messages to other contacts.
- It is not an appropriate social network for a teen’s privacy, no matter if it removes every activity between contacts after some time.
- Do you know attackers can use third-party apps to retrieve explicit photos and videos of teens?
Young kids are using Snapchat photo-saving apps that could steal teens’ data. Cyber attackers can hack someone’s Snapchat account on a teen’s phone using different techniques.
Yik Yak | The Yak is Back
It is a social media platform known as a key to cyberbullying. However, teens are using it on their digital phones. YikYak enables teens to create unknown ad hoc online chatting rooms for 500 users. It links to the Geo-Location that users can share and other valuable information with anyone. Moreover, cyber attackers can hack and control teens’ accounts to get private information.
Tinder | Dating, Make Friends & Meet New People
It is a popular dating app among teenagers. It allows 13 years old to create their Tinder profile and use its location to get matches nearby. Tinder has recently introduced a blind date feature that enables teens to interact with strangers without sharing their profiles. However, users can chat with anyone in person. Almost 7% of tinder users are under 13 to 17. Tinder is a platform that does not verify the profiles, and teens are more likely to interact with sex offenders. Online predators can stalk young teenagers from Tinder and approach them on other social media networks using their photos, names, videos, and other uploaded material.
Facebook & Instagram Popular Networking & Instant Messengers
Facebook is a widely used social media app in the world. Every teen in the world has a Facebook account and related social messaging apps, like WhatsApp and Instagram. Everyone loves to use the Facebook app and upload data like photos, images, stories, news feeds, videos, and many more. Seemingly, Facebook is a secure social platform but is always under attack by online predators and cyber attackers. Sex offenders can use it for stalking, cyberbullying, and online attackers use Facebook for identity theft, phishing, and hijacking, profile cloning attack, and many more.
Kik Messenger - A Freeware Instant Messaging App
Kik messenger is a free social network, and online predators can easily stalk teens online. Do you know why?
- Kik messenger app allows teens to share their profile, user-name, and photo publically
So, stranger danger is more likely to present on this social media platform. Young users don’t care about their identity and profile information. So, Kik social networks could breach your teen’s privacy and put their security at stake.
How To Protect Teens’ Privacy On Social Media Networks?
Social apps that we have discussed earlier can, directly and indirectly, breach privacy. Therefore, parents need to know what kids are doing on social networks active on the cellphones connected to cyberspace. So, parents can use TheOneSpy phone spy apps on phones to supervise their activities on social networks in real-time to prevent them from online attacks and online predators.
TheOneSpy Features to Protect Teen’s Privacy
Here are the following features that you can use on another phone to spy on social media apps to protect teen’s privacy and to prevents online attacks in time:
Live Screen Recording
Screen recorder is the powerful tool of the TheOneSpy android spy app. It empowers you to record live videos on a phone screen active with social networks, browsing activities, and many others. Parents can watch inappropriate activities that could breach teens’ privacy and online attacks that could steal their precious data on social networks.
Screen recording Features you need to know:
- Tinder screen recording
- Kik screen recording
- Facebook screen recorder
- Instagram screen recording
Screenshots
Parents can schedule screenshots on social networks active on target mobile to view and see the activities. You can schedule multiple screenshots to get more info to safeguard privacy.
Spy Apps for Social Media Networks
TheOneSpy has several social media spying tools that let parents keep an eye on popular social messaging apps that are as follows:
Facebook Messenger Spy
- Instagram spy
- Tinder spy software
- WhatsApp spying
- Kik monitoring app
Keystrokes Logging
Keystrokes logger enables parents to view and record keystrokes applied on social media apps. You can record, and capture passwords, messages, chats, email, and instant messenger keystrokes. It is helpful for parents to see weak passwords of teens’ social media profiles to prevent cyber-attacks.
View Installed Apps
Parents can see installed apps on the target phone to point out those social messaging apps that could breach teens’ privacy and potentially be risky for cyber-attacks.
Conclusion:
TheOneSpy is the best android spy software that empowers parents to keep an eye on the social media privacy of teens. It is equally suitable for parents to deal with cyber-attacks to retrieve, intercept and protect data of teens’ social media accounts.