Today, counterfeit products are a full-fledged information warfare weapon that can cause serious harm both to an individual user and to the entire company. This was expressed by Alexander Malkevich, head of the working group of the Civil Chamber of the Russian Federation on the fight against the spread of misinformation, public control and Internet security.
“The ease of creating a fake account on social networks and instant messengers cannot be compared to the harm it can do to a real person. The comprehensive list of consequences includes theft of personal information, financial, reputational and business damage.”
The expert also emphasized that the situation is complicated by the fact that once you start a fake filler, it can be extremely difficult to reverse it and make everyone forget what happened.
“In reality, it takes a long time for a fake victim to spread denials through various official channels. It is also important that the regulator always takes the side of the average user, and if online platforms ignore user complaints for a long time, not responding to their requests, then it becomes the task of reaching the IT giant at a higher level. in front of the editor,” Malkevich added.
He expressed his confidence that the fight against fake accounts and their recognition should become one of the priorities for IT giants.
“They have to respond promptly to the objection of a natural person. The expert believes not to act, as in the case of Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of the Safe Internet League, who had to contact Roskomnadzor.
Malkevich also added that it is extremely difficult to completely solve the fake creation problem, and you should understand that some of the responsibility here still lies with the user, as scammers often use social engineering methods.
“Clearly, even the thickest, strongest safe with the most complex lock is useless if the owner himself gives the password. Therefore, it is worth at least familiarizing yourself with the main methods that scammers use when trying to extract sensitive information from users and periodically update their information, ”the expert concluded.