Facebook Messenger is regularly hacked. I received a message from a friend who doesn't normally communicate by messenger sharing the news that someone had died. The URL was not a Facebook URL, and the message was oddly inspecific. If a friend or family member contacts me, I would expect something more like, "OMG! Your cousin Elmo died in a car crash!"
Because AI can process massive amounts of data quickly, deeply faked interactions based on its knowledge of your friends and your activities means that AI-fueled hacking will become more sophisticated. Instead of "someone you know has died" you can expect customized language that will include name, more natural phrasing, and location data based on your history.
To combat this?
- Regularly review your Facebook friends for inactivity. If they have left the platform or no longer post within a 6-month period? Unfriend them. Stale accounts are a prime hacking target. I have reduced my friend list by half.
- Delete old Facebook posts. This takes forever, but viewing the activity log and deleting old data is my new while-watching-TV hobby. I eliminated 95% of likes, groups, and only retain the last three months of active posts on Facebook. The previous sixteen years have been purged – yielding less data for any bad AI to parse.
- Don't use Messenger for communication, or limit it to immediate family/friends.
- If you no longer want to be on a platform - don't just walk away. Delete your FB account. Deactivate Twitter. Close your LinkedIn account. If you want to take a break? Temporairly deactivate accounts like Instagram.
- Don't sign up for anything new.
- Platforms universally deemed to be the Devil – like TikTok – should be avoided.
The best answer to AI-fueled hacking is to starve it of data that can be used to get past your defenses. Because AI can turn an easy fake like "All your base are belong to us" to something like, "Aunt Sarah, can you send me the passcode for the garage? It won't let me in," It's a good idea to start preparing for this future now.
