Cybersecurity Presentation
Jayden Hood
School of Cybersecurity, Old Dominion University
CYSE 201S: Cybersecurity and Social Science
Professor Diwakar
November 15, 2025
The Role of Social Media in Cybersecurity Threats
Jayden Hood
Social Engineering & Psychological Manipulation
Social media is a tool that facilitates social engineering since the majority of users disclose their private information openly. Fraudsters rely on such data to create persuasive phishing communications, pretend to be trustworthy persons, and lead the unwary to disclose their confidential information. As these assaults are directed against human feelings and not technical flaws, they are very successful. The use of AI-created messages and deep fakes, for instance, has made it possible for perpetrators to produce realistic scams, which are hard to spot, thus making social media a primary channel for psychological manipulation.
Oversharing Risks
Social media oversharing is a phenomenon where the users give out more personal details than they are aware of, without even thinking about the audience that can access it. The details may range from birthdays, and workplace information to travel plans, daily routines, and even photographs that unintentionally show sensitive items in the background. Cybercriminals take advantage of these bits and pieces of information to create very accurate profiles, decrypt passwords, plan specific attacks or even take over the identity of the person targeted. The constant sharing nature of social media causes the users to unwittingly leak data that may endanger both their individual security and that of the organization involved. What might be considered as tiny posts that lack any danger can actually provide the attackers with just what they needed to take advantage of the weak spots.
Malware Spread Online
The presence of social media sites has still remained a big factor that facilitates the rapid spread of malware as users are very much inclined to trust the contents they view. Hackers place bad links, fake promotions, and infected documents masquerading as coming from genuine accounts or famous pages. Clicking these links is an easy way for viruses, spyware, or ransomware to be secretly installed onto a person’s computer. Moreover, users can become infected through the sharing of malicious content by compromising accounts without even being aware of it in a way that spreads the infection to their friends, colleagues, and followers. The use of social media by cybercriminals for the purpose of malware distribution on a large scale has thus been made very easy.
Fake Accounts, Impersonation & Fraud
- Identity Impersonation
The attackers impersonate the victim’s acquaintances like a friend, coworker, or a family member urging the victim to sent them money or provide personal information or account details. - Celebrity or Brand Impersonation
The fraudsters deceivingly unmask public personalities or companies and thereby conducting scams, giving away fakes, and luring users into opening links that can infect their devices with malware. - Romance & Relationship Scams
The fake profiles are used to lure the victims emotionally, which mostly results in their financial fraud, extortion, or the stealing of their private information. - Business Email & Account Compromise
The cybercriminals pretend to be top managers or other employees to ask for money transfers, sensitive documents, or login credentials and often go for organizations as their target.