Identity Fraud in Focus quarterly report
8 min
With workers spending more time online in recent years, there's been a significant increase in the amount of time spent on social media each day. All that time online could lead to increased exposure to fraud and identity theft, which could in turn lead to your employees becoming less productive and disengaged at work. With Allstate Identity Protection as an employee benefit, you can offer your workers social media account takeover monitoring to help them protect themselves from fraudsters who may be targeting their account.
The increase in remote work has led to more time spent online — and social media use is skyrocketing.
In lieu of real-world chats with friends and colleagues, people are connecting more on digital platforms. The research firm eMarketer says that American adults spent 95 minutes per day on social media in 2021. That’s a leap from 2018, when a Nielsen report found that people were surfing social an average of 45 minutes a day.
Sadly, all of this can translate to increased cyber risks for employees and companies alike. Let’s take a look at the link between social sites and identity theft — and how offering Allstate Identity Protection as an employee benefit can add a layer of protection for individuals and organizations as a whole.
What’s social media account takeover?
Have you ever seen a post from a brand, celebrity, or even a trusted friend that seemed off-key, graphic, or downright suspicious?
If so, you may have been witnessing account takeover, a type of identity theft that happens when a criminal gains unauthorized access to someone else’s account.
If a fraudster gets the keys to a financial account, the stakes are obvious. But account takeover on social media should be taken seriously, too.
When one of your social accounts becomes compromised, your contacts could be targeted with graphic content or malware, causing you reputational harm. What’s more, while an attacker is signed in under your name, they may be able to harvest additional information — like your password, personal account details, and private messages — all of which can fuel future attacks.
Account takeover on social may also be the first sign of a bigger issue with your identity. Think about it: if a fraudster was able to log in as you, there’s a chance that more of your credentials have been exposed.
Our social media account takeover monitoring tool can help members spot issues with their social accounts quickly, minimizing damage. It can also provide a layer of protection for employers.
Social media account takeover monitoring is good for employees and employers alike
You may be wondering what a compromised social account has to do with the health of your company.
Identity theft can take 100 to 200 hours to resolve on one’s own, and much of that happens during business hours.
It’s common sense that when an employee is distracted on the job, productivity suffers. Errors are more likely, too: a study by Michigan State University found that workers are less accurate after even a brief interruption.
But did you realize that by offering Allstate Identity Protection as an employee benefit, you can help safeguard your company from a data breach? Sadly, over 40 percent of reported breaches are caused by employee negligence—like, say, an employee bypassing password best practices and recycling an old password that’s easier to remember.
Since up to 73 percent of passwords are duplicated, often across work and personal accounts, it’s possible that some of your employees are using the same credentials for, say, Facebook and work email.
That’s one of the reasons it can put the whole company at risk when an employee’s social credentials fall into the wrong hands — and why it’s helpful to offer an identity protection benefit that includes social media account takeover monitoring.
Our coverage includes the most popular social media platforms
Our social media account takeover monitoring feature keeps an eye out for possible issues — such as signs of account takeover or potentially inappropriate comments — within your social media accounts.
We actively track LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and now YouTube. If you’re a member, simply visit the portal and sync your accounts to opt in for alerts.
We believe that protecting your company begins with protecting your employees. With our product, it’s our hope that members can enjoy social without stress — and their employers can sleep better at night, too.