Page 91 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2024

What Makes This Campaign Compelling

The targeting of Meta for Business brings into focus the high value compromised businesses on social
channels hold for cybercriminals. While individually-owned accounts are commonly the object of attacks,
business accounts have the potential for a larger payout, broader reach, and less scrutiny. There are
several risks that organizations may face from their social media accounts; let’s run through several of
the most common.

Ad Fraud

Organizations with access to Meta Business Suite often use the platform’s considerable advertising
prowess to market their offerings to the ocean of social media users. Adversaries who gain access to
these accounts can hijack them to post ads to their own malicious offerings such as counterfeit goods or
other scams. In addition to siphoning funds already attributed to advertising in the platform, adversaries
may have less trouble getting a malicious ad approved when posting it under the guise of a compromised
organization. Unlike the three other risks below, this threat is exclusive to businesses.

Impersonation

With access to an organization’s social media account, adversaries can attempt to use the accumulated
trust and reach built up by an organization to spread misinformation, propagate further scams (as
occurred during the infamous 2020 Twitter hack), or for other nefarious purposes. In addition to
reputational damage, organizations may face considerable legal or regulatory risk if their social media
presence is abused in this way. A major consideration for security practitioners is that this risk exists not
just for official organizational accounts, but also for the personal accounts of executives and other high-
profile individuals tied to the organization.

Data Harvesting

Some organizations may leverage their social media account for sensitive communications, either with
end users via direct message or via closed groups. Adversaries who gain access to these organizations’
accounts are able to access this information and may seek to sell it or otherwise use it for further malicious
purposes. The actual risk here will vary widely from organization to organization but is something
important to consider for security professionals supporting an organization that heavily leverages social
media. Like impersonation, security professionals should also consider whether this risk exists for the
personal accounts of individuals within the organization.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2024 Edition 91
Copyright © 2024, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.