One example of bad behavior on the internet that I found interesting and very dangerous is a new scam dubbed “The Phantom Hacker.” This scam involves someone impersonating technology, banking, and even government officials to try to convince elderly victims that hackers have gained control their financial account. After the scammers convince the victim, they then instruct them to immediately move their money to an “U.S. Government account” to “protect” their assets but this was all a lie and they have now transferred their money to the actual hacker. This scam personally scares me because I have elderly parents and it’s just sickening that people pray on elderly.

The top three social media sites in 2023 in order are Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp. Facebook has 2.8 billion active users; YouTube follows in second with 2.3 billion monthly active users and WhatsApp comes in a close third with 2 billion monthly active users.

25 Most Popular Social Media Sites: Top Platforms, Networks, & Apps in 2023 (fannit.com)

Facebook is a popular networking platform which works in many ways, depending on who you are. Many people are on Facebook to stay connected to school and work friends or long-distance family, even make new connections along the way, also now businesses are striving more than ever with Facebook ads and dedicated business pages. YouTube is not only a video sharing site but the second largest search engine, a lot of people use YouTube to watch their favorite bloggers, to figure out how to put together items, use other programs, trouble shoot, make new recipes, etc.; the possibilities are endless. WhatsApp, our third most popular social media platform is a SMS based app that is used a lot by businesses to drive customers there to communicate.

Demographics is a collection of data of users, such as age, gender, income, education level, occupation, and other factors. In social media, demographics play a role in understanding your audience. It helps businesses tailor their content and marketing strategies to their target audience.

Social Media Demographics to Inform Your 2023 Strategy | Sprout Social

One thing that stuck out to me was the largest age group in the demographics for Facebook, which is 25-34. This sticks out to me because it’s my age group and Facebook is my most used form of social media, I also feel like every person I’ve ever met that’s in my age group uses this site as their main form of social media while the younger generation is typically more on sites that are video or photo based.

On average users spend about 38 minutes per day on Facebook, Americans spend about 24 minutes a day on YouTube and 28 minutes a day on WhatsApp by checking the app 23-25 times a day.

25 Most Popular Social Media Sites: Top Platforms, Networks, & Apps in 2023 (fannit.com)

Out of the three social media platforms I chose, the fastest growing one is YouTube. I think YouTube is the fastest growing of these sites because it doubles as a search engine, anytime I need to figure ANYTHING out I immediately go to YouTube, if I want a product review, a workout routine, a new recipe or anything I run to YouTube, and I think that is true for a lot of people. So, the diversity of what’s available on YouTube is definitely part of its growth, they’ve also added YouTube shorts which has younger users using the app for a longer period of time, they have YouTube kids, and they have ads you can’t skip which makes them a prime candidate for companies looking to promote. Other features include YouTube music and even YouTube T.V.

Fastest Growing Social Media Networks 2022-23 | Target Internet

The majority of visitors accessing these three site by mobile phone.

U.S. devices used to access Facebook 2022 | Statista

As the Chief Information Officer of a medium-sized gourmet food retail corporation, safeguarding our organization from cyber threats is a must. Cybersecurity is more than just technology; it also comes down to about people and systems working together to protect corporation and customer data. I’ll be addressing five potential digital threats and digital processes in our company, and also five recommendations to enhance our cybersecurity. 5 sources of potential digital threats are Malware/ phishing scams, insider threats, third party vulnerabilities, social media attacks through impersonation and unpatched software systems.  Cybercriminals use malware and phishing scams to attempt to breach systems and steal customer data and financial information, they also use ransomware. Employees can also be a risk, sometimes unintentionally. They might accidentally share sensitive data, or they could do it on purpose like taking account numbers or selling the customers information and sometimes a previous employee could take sensitive information to hurt the company. A similar threat is third party employees such as suppliers, partners, and contractors who also typically have access data systems. If their security is compromised, it can affect our organization by exposing data. Unpatched software is an issue where systems aren’t regularly updated and may be weakened enough for criminals to exploit. The social attack can be someone trying to impersonate an employee to trick someone else into sharing data that may harm the company or reveal sensitive information.

Malwares and its Impact on Businesses (digintrude.com)

The Continuing Threat of Unpatched Security Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)

7 Most Common Types of Cyber Vulnerabilities – CrowdStrike

5 digital processes, systems, and/or functions our company has in place that could be exploited or manipulated in order to gain access to valuable corporate or customer data would be online marketplace, customer database, 3 party systems, employee email and employee social media. When you have an online ecommerce platform its open to be a target to cyber-attacks and data breaches. The customer data base is a cyber criminals dream so that must be highly encrypted and well protected, or a criminal could hack and steal all of your customers information. Having 3rd parties connected to your business is also a threat because anything that happens to their business can affect yours. Both employee emails and social media can be the target of malware attacks and phishing scams.

As the chief technology executive, 5 recommendations that my company can adopt to be more safe, secure, and reliable would set up strong passwords, set up a firewall, pay for antivirus protection, constantly patch and update and also have backups to external hardware.

The 10 Data Security Measures you must take for your business – Wimi (wimi-teamwork.com)

Panasonic G85/Gx85 Walkthrough – YouTube

This first video I choose was actually something I had searched on my own for my new camera. I found this YouTube channel and they did an extremely precise walk through of the camera and all of its features. Since this is a tutorial on a certain camera the video is and will remain current for anyone who needs information for this specific model.  The person that is posting the video seems to be a photographer / blogger with extensive knowledge. I don’t believe there are any gate keeping mechanisms happening here. The quality of the information is great, well-spoken and very easy to follow. I have already used this information and I will definitely go back to this information as I am still trying to get comfortable using my camera.

Dreamweaver Tutorial: How to Build a Dreamweaver Website (websitesetup.org)

The second tutorial I chose was “How to build a Dreamweaver website.” I chose this because I am currently in my web design class trying to figure out how to use Dreamweaver. I’m honestly not sure how current the information but it seems current and up to date. The person who posted the information is the Editor in Chief on the website “websitesetup.org” I don’t know if they have an “Authority” on the matter, but they seem very knowledgeable and give a full breakdown of how to use Dreamweaver. I’m not really sure about gatekeeping again in this situation but there is an editor of the information. The tutorial is simple to follow and has a table of contents so you can quickly jump around if you need certain information, I will be using this information soon since I’m struggling to figure out Dreamweaver in my other class.

How to use Photoshop for beginners – learn the basics – Adobe

My 3rd and final online resource I chose was Photoshop for beginners. The information is very current, since it’s on photoshops website they have to update their page with each updated version of Photoshop. They are an authority on this subject since its coming directly from the source, there is also no gatekeeping involved. The information is written clearly, I like how they spaced everything out and included photos between text to show what they were referencing too, that makes it less intimidating then just staring at a bunch of words. I do think I will go back and use this resource because it was clearly showing the tools and how to use them in a way that was easy to follow.