Internal audit firms in Dubai and financial statement preparers should be aware that social media is an essential business tool. Companies need to be aware of the risks associated with social media. Companies and employees need to be aware of three realities:
After your company signs up for a social media platform, a cloud-based one, you have no control over how the system uses your data. The social media managers at your company don’t always know who’s posting to your account. They often have no interest in “getting to know” your customer. To mitigate any potential risks from social media, it is important to keep an eye on the situation.
This article focuses on five areas of concern regarding social and what internal audit service UAE teams can do for companies in Dubai and UAE to protect their reputation and data.
Who Is Responsible to Manage social media?
Your company must clearly explain the risks to all employees. Employees must be taught about monitoring and social media interaction. IT internal audit teams and audit committees need to be involved in managing social media governance.
How can Dubai, UAE companies help certified internal audit in Dubai teams identify and fix social media problems before they become headlines. Three questions should be asked of companies:
- What are the root causes?
- From where are these threats coming?
- What can we do now to deal with it?
It’s also important for internal audit services in Dubai to point out five possible risk points that companies should consider when assessing control weaknesses.
Five areas of concern for internal audit firms in UAE when auditing social media:
Security vulnerabilities in social media sites
Is social media secure? Social media users account for 22% of all security incidents. However, most social media sites are not very secure. Your Dubai, UAE company doesn’t have the ability to impose its policies on social media sites. Employees and third-party sellers can access your data.
Security vulnerabilities can be addressed with these steps As you would with any other cloud provider, review social media providers. Make sure you review contracts and have a cloud audit plan.
Security vulnerabilities can be reviewed: browser updates, settings, patches, browser upgrades, operating systems, business continuity and response plans. Monitor activity and enforce password policies Be cautious and only trust when necessary.
Site Impersonation
Phishing attacks are used by perpetrators to create fake profiles on social media and impersonate people. Individuals and businesses should have basic information about the people they do business with. However, social media is very limited in this area. This leaves the door open to data laundering by anyone who does not have proof of identity or needs to verify sources.
Here are some steps that internal audit services in Dubai use to reduce impersonation risk
Your employees should be trained on phishing and dangerous links. To ensure that the public can identify your account legitimately, make sure you check each social platform for the “verified label”. Make sure your website links to social media channels. To monitor brand misuse and enforce appropriate enforcement measures, create a social media strategy. You can also use tools to monitor compliance.
Public Posting on The Sites of Your Organization
Social media is social media. This is dangerous because your customers will be posting to your social media channels all the time.
Public posting concerns can be addressed by these steps:
- Give your internal audit teams and employees tools to gain insight into your customers, i.e. the public who posts on your website.
- Monitor posts regularly for harmful content. Be sure to delete the post immediately and take note of its impact.
Postings By Employees on The Sites of Your Company
You should take care of employee access, security, posting policies and third-party outsourcing. Bad credential management by employees can cause security problems. Employees who are unhappy may express negative or controversial views. Companies may decide to outsource their posting to a third party — this requires extra care.
There are steps to address issues such as employee access and posting. You can limit who can post and access each company’s social media channels.
Clear social media controls should be established. These policies should include posting guidelines and a signed statement of compliance. If the protocols are not followed, disciplinary action can be taken. Posts must be approved and reviewed before they are published. Monitor and moderate social media posts. If you outsource to third parties, make sure your contract covers performance, quality and value.
Posting By Employees on Company Websites
Posting to social media accounts or company websites by employees can be a problem.
How To Deal with Employees Postings from The Outside
- Create a policy that requires employees to obtain prior approval before they can repost company information.
- Identify content sources.
- Declare that your company does not accept personal employee postings.
- Let’s close by stating three things that all companies need to do in order to lower social media risk.
- Be alert and take control.
- Everyone in the company should be educated.
- Keep an eye on your accounts.
Your company does not have control over social media systems. They don’t have the ability to control how they operate or what they do about your data. Social media is fundamentally dangerous. Your company, along with employees and internal auditors has to create and implement policies and practices that reduce risks.
