culled from:entrepreneur.com

1. Online reputation integrity.

Do you keep tabs on your
company’s Facebook page to see just what goes on it? What’s being put
there by employees? Even “good-natured” things can be taken the wrong
way by visitors.

2. Racy text or images

If
your employees do this, it could taint your company’s reputation.
Though you can’t control what your teenage employees do on social media
at their homes, you can educate them. Usually it’s ignorance
that rules, not malicious intent. Adults too, should be educated that
inappropriate posting can tarnish your reputation. This includes
something as seemingly innocent as posing half naked on a car in your
business’s parking lot.

3. Imposters posing as your company

Though
it requires some work, it’s worth it. Continuously patrol the web to
spot any malicious use of your business’s name or logo. This includes a
phony site purporting to be that of your business. Sign up for Google
Alerts so that whenever your business’s name appears in a new article or
post online, the link gets sent to your email. Of course, just to play
safe, don’t click on the link inside the email. Instead, copy and paste
it into your address box.

4. Financial ID theft

Something
as seemingly harmless as posting your employee’s new puppy’s name could
lead to financial identity theft. It’s not uncommon for people to use
their pet’s name as part of a password or answer to a security question.
The numbers in birthdays and wedding dates are also commonly used in
passwords. Your company’s Facebook page should be void of these personal
details that a hacker could use to crack passwords. A photo of the
puppy is fine, but leave the name a mystery.

5. Geo tracking on photos

Make
sure that GPS technology is turned off so that criminals can’t stalk
you or your employees. Though location-based GPS technology can be a
life saver, don’t have this turned on unless your life might depend on
it.

6. Home robberies

You and your employees should be
educated about the dangers of posting vacation or business travel
information on social media. Burglars scan these to see whose houses
they can rob while the occupants are away on a trip.

7. Corporate snooping

A
spy could set up a Facebook page, pose as a fellow employee from
another branch and recruit authentic employees to join his
Facebook group. This way he can extract sensitive company information
over time.

8. Sex offenders

Know whom you connect with
online. Tell your employees to use discretion when communicating with a
new contact. The new contact could be a sex offender posing as someone
innocent.

9. Badmouthing

Sooner
or later you may have a disgruntled employee. Maybe it’s someone you
fired for poor performance. Maybe it’s someone still working for you. It
could even be your secretary. Do you treat your employees well?
A
“picked-on” employee can get revenge by posting bad reviews about your
company on various sites, using just their initials or a common name
such as “Susan Campbell.” This slighted employee may even set up a blog
all about how bad your business is. Treat your employees well, and be on
the lookout for angry tweets and posts.

10. Bullying

It has happened: an employee posts bully-like comments on the company’s Facebook page in response to posts from the public.

11. Government spying 

An
Associated Press report states “U.S. law enforcement agents are
following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking
services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate
with suspects. Just don’t be a ‘suspect.’” Don’t blindly friend people
on Facebook.

12. Phony sites

A criminal or even your
business’s competition could set up a phony site, maybe on Facebook or a
blog-like site, to extract information about your company from
unsuspecting visitors or people who’ve been lured there. This
information can include the names of your clients and their emails,
phone numbers, account numbers, etc.

13. Account takeover

Earlier
this year, the Dow plunged 150 points. Why? The Twitter account for the
Associated Press was hacked. The hacker tweeted that President Obama
had been injured in a White House attack. Seemingly coming from the AP,
this news came across as authentic. Any shocking news tweets that comes
from even seemingly legitimate sources should be first carefully
considered, as employees may receive these on their Twitter accounts.

14. Legal liability

Though the privacy settings on Facebook can hide posts, this doesn’t mean they can’t be used as evidence in court.
The
bottom line is there’s really no such thing as full privacy just
because you have the privacy settings switched on. Skilled hackers can
penetrate Facebook and dig up the worms.