https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/misdiagnosing-our-cyberhealth/

As schools and universities closed across the country, the #ClassOf2020 challenge went viral, with graduates taking to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to mark the rite of passage online. Using the hashtag, they posted photographs of themselves in cap and gown, holding their diploma and surrounded by loved ones. Millions of people shared #ClassOf2020 images, which included smiling selfies taken in graduation regalia, proud parents hugging their children, fizzing bottles of champagne and tassels flying high above caps tossed in the air. It was a moment of joy captured amid global crisis.

But these snapshots may have also given cybercriminals valuable information and insight into the private lives of these recent graduates. Using the hashtag, hackers could have mined the posts for information on the students, from the diploma in their hand to the university painted on their cap and the pets and family members tagged in the background. What few of them realized was that the content of these photographs and captions also held the answers to the security questions designed to protect their accounts. A quick scroll through Instagram, and the answer to “What’s your pet’s name?” or “What high school did you attend?” can go from a shot in the dark to an educated guess. As the Better Business Bureau has warned, posters may not realize that the content of these photographs and captions also held the answers to the security questions designed to protect their accounts. Hackers can cross-reference information posted to these social media campaigns against other publicly available personal data to glean our birth date, hometown, and other key facts that can be used to change our passwords and take over our accounts.