Just posted a high-quality video of your makeup session or high-resolution image on social media and expect some “likes” and “likes” from your followers?
You may have just given up your identity credentials and biometric patterns and been exposed to cyberattacks for the rest of your life. The audio clips you regularly post on social media and the #noblink or #makeup or #nomakeup challenges reveal your “iris” identity, which, like your fingerprints, is unique to you.
Weak passwords and clicking malicious links are considered the top security concerns as they could make it very easy for hackers to break into systems and cause immense damage. However, these can be remedied in many cases by changing passwords and providing two-factor authentication.
They claim that posting high-resolution images, videos, and audio files on social media platforms poses a much greater risk to people.
From creating national social security and identification numbers to crossing borders and enlisting public services, Iris identities that are exclusive and unique to individuals play a critical role.
“However, by publicly sharing certain types of content on social media, we give malicious actors the ability to acquire our biometrics,” states the latest report from cybersecurity solutions and research firm Trend Micro.
“By posting our voice messages, we disclose voice patterns. By posting photo and video content, we expose our faces, retinas, irises, ear shape patterns, and in some cases palms and fingerprints,” it noted.
“Because such data could be publicly available, we have limited control over its dissemination. We therefore do not know who has already accessed the data, nor do we know how long the data will be stored and for what purposes,” the report warns.
What can hackers do?
According to the report, the hackers can use your face and voice pattern to create a deepfake persona and take over an account that requires voice authentication.
“You can hijack an account that uses facial recognition for authentication,” it warns.
By enlarging a portion of high-resolution photos, hackers can capture viable biometrics that are often used for verification and identification.
How to be sure
To prevent attacks, experts have asked people to use less exposed biometric patterns (like fingerprints) to authenticate or verify sensitive accounts.
“In modern life, it is understandably very difficult to protect facial and vocal patterns from exposure. However, a certain level of control over other biometric patterns such as fingerprints or iris patterns can still be kept to a minimum for most internet users,” they point out.
“They should minimize disclosure of biometric patterns. It would also be better to lower the quality of the media published online or even blur certain features.
Published on October 26, 2022
