Online social networks security and privacy: comprehensive review and analysis

AbstractWith fast-growing technology, online social networks (OSNs) have exploded in popularity over the past few years. The pivotal reason behind this phenomenon happens to be the ability of OSNs to provide a platform for users to connect with their family, friends, and colleagues. The information shared in social network and media spreads very fast, almost instantaneously which makes it attractive for attackers to gain information. Secrecy and surety of OSNs need to be inquired from various positions. There are numerous security and privacy issues related to the user’s shared information especially when a user uploads personal content such as photos, videos, and audios. The attacker can maliciously use shared information for illegitimate purposes. The risks are even higher if children are targeted. To address these issues, this paper presents a thorough review of different security and privacy threats and existing solutions that can provide security to social network users. We have also discussed OSN attacks on various OSN web applications by citing some statistics reports. In addition to this, we have discussed numerous defensive approaches to OSN security. Finally, this survey discusses open issues, challenges, and relevant security guidelines to achieve trustworthiness in online social networks.

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A Survey on Online Social Networks: Applications, Threats and Solutions

Asian Journal of Computer Science and Technology ◽

10.51983/ajcst-2019.8.2.2149 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 6-8

Author(s):

K. Jayabalan ◽

B. Subramani

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Web Applications ◽

Personal Information ◽

Well Being ◽

Security And Privacy ◽

Security Level ◽

Digital World ◽

User Data ◽

Privacy Issues

Online social networks (OSNs) are playing crucial role in digital world today. OSNs are web applications that allow users to share their personal information, digital images and videos, and to inform others about online or real time world activities and events with people in their network. OSN’s are decentralized and distributed computer networks where users communicate with their friends and relatives through Internet services. The Smartphone has increase the situation for hacker’s to attacks end user data from OSNs. Behaviors of OSN users has been monitored for data analytics[1]. In this paper, we represent full review of the applications, different security level threats and privacy issues, which threaten the well-being of OSN users in general, and children in particular. In addition, we present an overview of existing solutions that can provide better protection, security, and privacy for OSN users[2]. We also offer few recommendations for OSN users, which can improve their security and privacy when using the online social networks.

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A Survey of Privacy and Security Issues in Social Networks

10.19107/cybercon.2014.08 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Constantin SPÂNU

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Network Security ◽

Social Networking ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Identity Theft ◽

Privacy And Security ◽

Security Issues ◽

Privacy Issues

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have gained more popularity in recent years. Because of its large user base, and large amount of information, they become a potential channel for attackers to exploit. Many social networking sites try to prevent those exploitations, but many attackers are still able to overcome those security countermeasures by using different techniques. Social network users may not be aware of such threats. Therefore, this paper will present a survey on different privacy and security issues in online social networks. The issues include privacy issues, identity theft, social networks spam, social networks malware, and physical threats. Social network privacy issues, social network security issues, social network threats, identity Theft, social network spam, social network malware, Facebook worms, Twitter Worms.

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How migrants manifest their transnational identity through online social networks: comparative findings from a case of Koreans in Germany

Comparative Migration Studies ◽

10.1186/s40878-020-00218-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sunyoung Park ◽

Lasse Gerrits

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Online Social Network ◽

Point Of View ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Transnational Identity ◽

Transnational Identities ◽

Web 3.0 ◽

Situational Contexts

AbstractAlthough migration has long been an imperative topic in social sciences, there are still needs of study on migrants’ unique and dynamic transnational identity, which heavily influences the social integration in the host society. In Online Social Network (OSN), where the contemporary migrants actively communicate and share their stories the most, different challenges against migrants’ belonging and identity and how they cope or reconcile may evidently exist. This paper aims to scrutinise how migrants are manifesting their belonging and identity via different technological types of online social networks, to understand the relations between online social networks and migrants’ multi-faceted transnational identity. The research introduces a comparative case study on an online social movement led by Koreans in Germany via their online communities, triggered by a German TV advertisement considered as stereotyping East Asians given by white supremacy’s point of view. Starting with virtual ethnography on three OSNs representing each of internet generations (Web 1.0 ~ Web 3.0), two-step Qualitative Data Analysis is carried out to examine how Korean migrants manifest their belonging and identity via their views on “who we are” and “who are others”. The analysis reveals how Korean migrants’ transnational identities differ by their expectation on the audience and the members in each online social network, which indicates that the distinctive features of the online platform may encourage or discourage them in shaping transnational identity as a group identity. The paper concludes with the two main emphases: first, current OSNs comprising different generational technologies play a significant role in understanding the migrants’ dynamic social values, and particularly, transnational identities. Second, the dynamics of migrants’ transnational identity engages diverse social and situational contexts. (keywords: transnational identity, migrants’ online social networks, stereotyping migrants, technological evolution of online social network).

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Limitation of degree information for analyzing the interaction evolution in online social networks

International Journal of Modern Physics C ◽

10.1142/s0129183114500569 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (10) ◽

pp. 1450056 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ke-Ke Shang ◽

Wei-Sheng Yan ◽

Xiao-Ke Xu

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Social Services ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Dynamic Network ◽

Interaction Network ◽

Strength Distribution ◽

Customer Churn ◽

Dynamic Social Network ◽

Temporal Interactions

Previously many studies on online social networks simply analyze the static topology in which the friend relationship once established, then the links and nodes will not disappear, but this kind of static topology may not accurately reflect temporal interactions on online social services. In this study, we define four types of users and interactions in the interaction (dynamic) network. We found that active, disappeared, new and super nodes (users) have obviously different strength distribution properties and this result also can be revealed by the degree characteristics of the unweighted interaction and friendship (static) networks. However, the active, disappeared, new and super links (interactions) only can be reflected by the strength distribution in the weighted interaction network. This result indicates the limitation of the static topology data on analyzing social network evolutions. In addition, our study uncovers the approximately stable statistics for the dynamic social network in which there are a large variation for users and interaction intensity. Our findings not only verify the correctness of our definitions, but also helped to study the customer churn and evaluate the commercial value of valuable customers in online social networks.

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Personality, risk tolerance and social network use: an exploratory study

Managerial Finance ◽

10.1108/mf-05-2015-0159 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 536-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shaista Wasiuzzaman ◽

Siavash Edalat

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Financial Risk ◽

Ordinary Least Squares ◽

Risk Tolerance ◽

Network Activity ◽

Least Squares Regression ◽

Content Type ◽

Financial Risk Tolerance

Purpose – The vast amount of information available via online social networks (OSN) makes it a very good avenue for understanding human behavior. One of the human characteristics of interest to financial practitioners is an individual’s financial risk tolerance. The purpose of this paper is to look at the relationship between an individual’s OSN behavior and his/her financial risk tolerance. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data collected from a sample of 220 university students and the backward variables selection ordinary least squares regression analysis technique to achieve its objective. Findings – The results of the study find that the frequency of logging on to social network sites indicates an individual who has higher financial risk tolerance. Additionally, the increasing use of social networks for social connection is found to be associated with lower financial risk tolerance. The results are mostly consistent when the sample is split based on prior financial knowledge. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study which documents the possibility of understanding an individual’s financial risk tolerance via his/her social network activity. This provides investment/financial consultants with more avenues for gathering information in order to understand their current or potential clients hence providing better services.

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Privacy and Security Issues in Online Social Networks

Future Internet ◽

10.3390/fi10120114 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 114 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Shaukat Ali ◽

Naveed Islam ◽

Azhar Rauf ◽

Ikram Din ◽

Mohsen Guizani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Service Providers ◽

Security And Privacy ◽

Security Issue ◽

Sensitive Data ◽

Privacy And Security ◽

Security Issues ◽

Social Sphere

The advent of online social networks (OSN) has transformed a common passive reader into a content contributor. It has allowed users to share information and exchange opinions, and also express themselves in online virtual communities to interact with other users of similar interests. However, OSN have turned the social sphere of users into the commercial sphere. This should create a privacy and security issue for OSN users. OSN service providers collect the private and sensitive data of their customers that can be misused by data collectors, third parties, or by unauthorized users. In this paper, common security and privacy issues are explained along with recommendations to OSN users to protect themselves from these issues whenever they use social media.

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IMPACT OF OFFLINE AND ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS ON LONELINESS AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG ITALIAN OLDER PEOPLE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1945 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S529-S529

Author(s):

Daniele Zaccaria ◽

Georgia Casanova ◽

Antonio Guaita

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Older People ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Social Network Sites ◽

Well Being ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Face To Face ◽

Causal Impact

Abstract In the last decades the study of older people and social networks has been at the core of gerontology research. The literature underlines the positive health effects of traditional and online social connections and also the social networks’s positive impact on cognitive performance, mental health and quality of life. Aging in a Networked Society is a randomized controlled study aimed at investigating causal impact of traditional face-to-face social networks and online social networks (e.g. Social Network Sites) on older people’ health, cognitive functions and well-being. A social experiment, based on a pre-existing longitudinal study (InveCe - Brain Aging in Abbiategrasso) has involved 180 older people born from 1935 to 1939 living in Abbiategrasso, a municipality near Milan. We analyse effects on health and well-being of smartphones and Facebook use (compared to engagement in a more traditional face-to-face activity), exploiting the research potential of past waves of InveCe study, which collected information concerning physical, cognitive and mental health using international validate scale, blood samples, genetic markers and information on social networks and socio-demographic characteristics of all participants. Results of statistical analysis show that poor social relations and high level of perceived loneliness (measured by Lubben Scale and UCLA Loneliness scale) affect negatively physical and mental outcomes. We also found that gender and marital status mediate the relationship between loneliness and mental wellbeing, while education has not significant effect. Moreover, trial results underline the causal impact of ICT use (smartphones, internet, social network sites) on self-perceived loneliness and cognitive and physical health.

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Quantifying Virality of Information in Online Social Networks

International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking ◽

10.4018/jvcsn.2012010103 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 32-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Abhishek Vaish ◽

Rajiv Krishna G. ◽

Akshay Saxena ◽

Dharmaprakash M. ◽

Utkarsh Goel

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Online Social Network ◽

Critical Factors ◽

Asset Valuation ◽

Valuation Technique ◽

Information Item ◽

Viral Nature ◽

Over Time

The aim of this research is to propose a model through which the viral nature of an information item in an online social network can be quantified. Further, the authors propose an alternate technique for information asset valuation by accommodating virality in it which not only complements the existing valuation system, but also improves the accuracy of the results. They use a popularly available YouTube dataset to collect attributes and measure critical factors such as share-count, appreciation, user rating, controversiality, and comment rate. These variables are used with a proposed formula to obtain viral index of each video on a given date. The authors then identify a conventional and a hybrid asset valuation technique to demonstrate how virality can fit in to provide accurate results.The research demonstrates the dependency of virality on critical social network factors. With the help of a second dataset acquired, the authors determine the pattern virality of an information item takes over time.

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Defining Inspection Techniques for Detecting Privacy Problems in Online Social Networks

Journal of Interactive Systems ◽

10.5753/jis.2019.552 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 35

Author(s):

Andrey Rodrigues ◽

Natasha M. C. Valentim ◽

Eduardo Feitosa

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Network ◽

Empirical Study ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Online Social Network ◽

Effective Alternative ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Study Participants ◽

Inspection Techniques

In the last few years, Online Social Networks (OSN) have experienced growth in the number of users, becoming an increasingly embedded part of people’s daily lives. Privacy expectations of OSNs are higher as more members start realizing potential privacy problems they face by interacting with these systems. Inspection methods can be an effective alternative for addressing privacy problems because they detect possible defects that could be causing the system to behave in an undesirable way. Therefore, we proposed a set of privacy inspection techniques called PIT-OSN (Privacy Inspection Techniques for Online Social Network). This paper presents the description and evolution of PIT-OSN through the results of a preliminary empirical study. We discuss the quantitative and qualitative results and their impact on improving the techniques. Results indicate that our techniques assist non-expert inspectors uncover privacy problems effectively, and are considered easy to use and useful by the study participants. Finally, the qualitative analysis helped us improve some technique steps that might be unclear.

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