#Classof2020Strong and #Classof2020 are current popular trends that support current seniors whose graduation ceremonies were canceled due to COVID-19. #Classof2020Strong has a little over 6,000 posts on Instagram. #Classof2020 has about 843,000 posts.
Sometimes what starts as a fun trend can have serious consequences and could become dangerous. Recently, the FBI put out a warning about posting your old high school graduation photos. Have you or someone you know do this?
Why are trends bad?
Everyone knows how annoying it is to have to reset your passwords (anyone one else use the same word but in three different ways?!) You probably also know how annoying the security questions are. Typically they require a one-word answer and are usually revolved around big life events – like graduation. Using photos uploaded in the latest trends, #Classof2020, and #Classof2020Strong, hackers can get answers to the most common security questions like your high school, graduation year, or mascot.
Scary, right?!
Other examples include posting pictures of your first car, answering questions about your best friend, the name of your first pet, your first concert, your favorite restaurant, and your favorite teacher. They even suggested not tagging your mother since it could reveal her maiden name.
“Fraudsters can leverage this personal information to reset account passwords and gain access to user data and accounts,” the FBI said in a statement.
How to protect yourself
As a safety precaution, the FBI wants people to check their security questions and enable two-factor or multifactor authentication.
There are three types of credentials: something you know, something you have, and something you are.
Something you know could be a PIN or password.
Something you have is a security token or app that gives you a randomly generated number that changes frequently. Usually, this comes as verification texts, emails, or calls. These require a response before accessing the account.
Something you are ranging from fingerprints to facial recognition, or voice recognition. The most common is fingerprints or facial recognition since every model of the newer iPhones has one or the other.
If you feel anxious already, maybe change those security questions now. On Facebook, you cannot change your security questions once they’re saved. But you can add a two-factor authorization. Instagram does not offer security questions, so they recommending also using a two-step authorization. Twitter also doesn’t have security questions but they offer a two-factor authorization. To set up two-step authorizations on the most popular social media apps, here an article that will explain how to in-depth.
Any cyber fraud can be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.com.
