social media

Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely

Emily Carter — Thu, 30 May 2024 01:52:06 +0000

Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely Emily Carter Thu, 05/30/2024 - 11:52

28 May 2024

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Laura Tchilinguirian.

ABC News Radio

Subject: Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely

Laura Tchilinguirian

We’ve heard plenty about cyber hacks of late and often the targets seem to be small businesses who are also active online. So how can they protect themselves? Well, the �Թ�� Ombudsman has released a guide for these businesses on how to use their social media in a secure way. Bruce Billson is the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and he joins us now. Bruce, thanks very much for coming on to ABC News Radio. How can small businesses reduce their chances of being hacked?

Bruce Billson

Laura, great to be with you and your listeners.

There's a few things that we're recommending. What we’ve seen is a more than doubling of the number of disputes we've assisted or resolved where small business dependent on these digital platforms all of a sudden finds rather than a world of opportunities they're experiencing a world of pain.

That pain can be being locked out of your own account. That could be credit cards linked to your account that you've been using for advertising and other purposes on that platform being taken over by a scammer who's got nefarious ideas in mind, such as paying for promotions that don't help your business, maybe even changing and compromising your network presence to look like your somebody else.

But in all cases, that's causing you quite an amount of harm through lost customer contact, maybe payments that you haven't authorised being actioned. And in some cases even using your digital platform presence to gain access into related accounts that then see the hacker having a terrible time for people that you've been doing business with.

So, we've come up with a guide to give people some tips about how to protect themselves, still get the benefit of those platforms. So, Laura, for some businesses, this is the sole contact channel with their customers and how they present what they do to the world and trying to make sure it stays doing good things for you is what we're about.

Laura Tchilinguirian

Would you say that small businesses are an easy target for hackers?

Bruce Billson

Well, they can be. And they are a target of choice for some hackers because there are these related capabilities linked with their digital presence.

For you and I on our Insta account, we might just have a little bit of chat with family and friends and post great videos of our Cavoodles trying to mimic being cattle dogs. That's great. That's funny. If we lose that that functionality because our site’s taken over, our page has been hacked, that's a hardship, but it's not the end of the world, perhaps.

But for a small business, this is their front door to their customers. And there are these other related capabilities that the platforms are really useful for so many small and family businesses, but also open up a new kind of vulnerability. I mentioned those linked advertising accounts. You might have a credit card attached to that functionality. There may be entry points into your customer’s accounts that might be compromised as well.

So, what we're saying is have a level of privacy and settings on that account that you're comfortable with, knowing that risk is there, and that you can easily control.

Make sure that other profiles or users that are linked to your account are aware... well, we'd say remove those where they're not necessary, but really be on top of what sort of risks that might represent.

I know I've got a credit card that I use for online sales, for instance, that has a very low balance on it. So even if it is compromised, there’s only so much harm that can be done. And that's also another thing that we recommending.

And also, you know, make sure that the accounts are set up so that if the account itself is compromised, there is another way, a recognised way that the platforms can contact you. Because, Laura, you know what it's like when your locked out of your account and the first bit of advice you get is ‘get into your account to tell us you’re locked out of it’.

That's the sort of nonsense we're trying to find a workaround for and keep small businesses benefiting from these platforms. But really take protection and safeguards seriously so that they're not compromised and don't see harm to their business, their finances and their relationship with their customers.

Laura Tchilinguirian

Bruce, how easy is the guide for these small businesses to follow?

Bruce Billson

Look, it should be straightforward. We've worked it up based on the cases that we've been involved with, where we've had real life practical examples of people having their accounts compromised. We've even worked with Meta to make sure that the resources that they have, which are very much self-help, are sort of plugged in as well.

But, you know, we're also calling on these platforms to do their job and take their responsibilities more seriously.

And that means stepping up. And, here's a novel idea, Laura, how about actually having a person you can contact to talk through your concerns? We don't think that's too much to ask. So, we're also saying that these platforms lift your game and take your responsibility seriously.

And if all else fails, small and family businesses can contact my agency and then we say to these platforms, if you want us to help, give us someone real to talk to and help us problem solve, because this is a very important channel to customers that small and family businesses are increasingly relying upon.

Laura Tchilinguirian

Bruce, we'll have to leave it there. But thanks very much for that guidance. And people can head to the �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman website to find out more.

Bruce Billson

Absolutely. www.asbfeo.gov.au There's a whole bunch of tools there. Jump online and you can access that resource that we've been discussing.

Laura Tchilinguirian

Excellent. That is Bruce Billson, the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely

Emily Carter — Wed, 29 May 2024 07:06:38 +0000

Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely Emily Carter Wed, 05/29/2024 - 17:06

28 May 2024

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Gary Adshead.

Radio 6PR Perth

Subject: Ombudsman’s guide for small business - using social media securely

Gary Adshead

There’s a new guide going out in relation to businesses using social media and trying to use it securely and properly. Bruce Billson is the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and he joins me now. G’day Bruce.

Bruce Billson

Gary, fab to be with you and your listeners?

Gary Adshead

Can you tell whether it's a major, growing trend and whether the reason is it's just cheaper in terms of using a social media platform than building your own website?

Bruce Billson

I can and I can share it just with you, Gary, and your Perth listeners. It is a growing trend because a lot of businesses their digital presence is their channel to the marketplace. This is a great way of engaging with a lot of eyeballs you probably wouldn't otherwise be able to connect with. It's an aggregation place where people come looking for a range of opportunities. And for you and I, if we were to start a business, it's a way of getting into business without necessarily having the expense and the tail risk of a commercial lease and a bricks and mortar type operation.

So, it's very, very attractive. Lots of people have this as an early-stage business strategy or even, dare I use the phrase, a side hustle. It can be quite lucrative, but it's also quite hazardous. We've seen a doubling in the number of businesses that have had a problem with those very same digital platforms. So, they're opening up new opportunities, new markets, new potential, but they're not without their hazards. And that's what we're trying to help people steer away from.

Gary Adshead

And those hazards, is it around the social media platform itself perhaps might be easier to intercept than a website, in terms of those people that want to hack and want to get their clients details or want to upset the business?

Bruce Billson

Yeah, it's that kind of thing where those platforms have quite a sophisticated back end, which is the business of the platform Gary. So, imagine you and I, we've got a presence. We want to put a series of ads out. It's connected up to our place where we can buy and sell and engage with our service. But it then feeds into some other part of that platform where it might be an ad spend about targeted placement of our message. And connected to that can be our account details for a credit card and then maybe even a gateway into other linked accounts that if someone can get into one part of that system, they may be able to cause havoc in other parts of the system.

And then you and I as a person relying on that channel to do our business, sits there and sees our business going down the drain. In some cases, bad experiences, even a change to the website itself. And in other cases that we've seen people using the advertising linked accounts to drain those accounts to promote something else or to even do something quite malicious to our own accounts.

So that's where things go badly, Gary, and then the frustration just gets worse. The websites say, hey, get into your account to tell us that you can't get into your account. You can imagine that's the ultimate run around.

Gary Adshead

That has happened to me. Do you have a view that consumers are more wary of the Facebook or the other platform social media sites, rather than an actual structured website. Do you have a view on that?

Bruce Billson

I think they could be. I'll give you an example, and I'm probably outing myself here. I was traveling back from a conference in Tasmania sitting on the tarmac, and I saw on one of these platforms a product that would take a little scratch out of the duco of your car's paintwork. I thought that looks alright. I'm a bit car proud. So, I went through the social media channel and tapped in and thought I was doing quite well, making that purchase. The following morning I'm out mowing the lawn and I get a call from my bank saying, Bruce, we've blocked this payment. Do you know who they are? I said, they seem to be a UK-based provider. They said, they might try and sell you stuff, but they sell the details of the financial information you provided to someone else to hack you. So, they've shut down the show.

That's a thing to be alert to. And that's also why these integrated platforms are so attractive for hackers wanting to do nefarious things.

Gary Adshead

Alright, so you've come up with a guide, some sort of structure of what you can do that gives you the best chance If you're setting up one of these sites on a platform. What's your top tips?

Bruce Billson

Well, top tips are probably don't go the hamburger with the lot. Create a profile that's got privacy settings and control and management settings that you're comfortable with and you can actually take charge of. Take out profiles or other connections which you just don't need because they can often be that that gateway that people could use to gain access to your page.

Make sure you can actually control what you're doing. In the event that someone else gets in there, you've still got control and it's about turning ads on and off. And I do this myself, Gary. I've got a credit card that's got a pretty low balance on it, which I use exclusively for transactions that are online. So, if someone does tap into it, they can only do so much damage. And if I was selling through one of these platforms and I had a linked credit card for advertising expenditure, I do the same thing. I'd have one that didn't have a behemoth credit limit on it. I’d have it quite low knowing that if something went wrong, you can shut that down quite quickly. Even keeping to one side, the details of your you are URL and your account details. And even having it recognise that you're on a mobile phone so that if your account’s locked down, you can at least use that other channel, your mobile phone, that's recognised by the platforms to try and seek a resolution.

And if that doesn't happen and you're a small family business and you're seeing your business compromised by this and you're getting no help from the platforms, reach out for us and we can possibly help.

Gary Adshead

That's actually a real point, isn't it, that it's very difficult to find – even though Meta have got offices here – it's actually pretty difficult to get through to someone, particularly if this is an emergency.

Bruce Billson

It is incredibly difficult. And what we've said to Meta and the other platforms is that you need to have decent internal dispute resolution mechanisms, decent support, like here's a novel idea, Gary, how about a human someone can talk to you? Here's an idea maybe that might take off, and when we deal with them, we sort of say, Look, we definitely want someone who's got the authority to fix some of these problems. Some of them we can get sorted out quite quickly. But even with the relationship we work hard to build so that small and family businesses can get support from us. Even at times, it can still take weeks. Think of it in a real retail sense, that's weeks that your door's not open, you're not engaging with your customers and that can be really damaging to your business as well.

Gary Adshead

And I'm not trying to sort of put a damper on people who want to use these platforms for their business, but we have examples and we spoke last week to someone who through their own Facebook marketplace. People are basically knocking on their door asking for the product that they bought and the person's going, dunno what you're talking about. And it's because of this whole fraudulent nature that Facebook Marketplace.

The person I spoke to last week, a former minister in the in the government here who found that he was getting knocks on the door because he thought he was being used. He can't get anything done through Meta. He can't get any resolution to it. He's just got to put a sign on his gate saying it's not me, I'm not selling well.

Bruce Billson

And Gary, we've said to these platforms, you need to do better otherwise lawmakers will regulate. And you end up with it with a whole lot of challenges and obligations and duties you might not want. But if you want to, you want to try and minimize that prospect, do better, do better. I mean, we've even seen examples where you've got businesses interacting well, and these platforms, you know, aspire to look after customers. But this isn't the way of looking after customers. And that's why we're urging these platforms to step up and do better themselves. And that way if people do get half a chance to sort these things out and still can't, we can step in and try and be of assistance and that's what we're doing. Those cases have doubled in the last year and we expect to see that trajectory continue.

Gary Adshead

If push comes to shove and someone set up a business through a platform and suddenly people have lost money on it, who's liable? If it's the platform itself that was too easily hacked in that instance? I mean, it is it you as a business person to have to pay up or do you have to go to Meta and say, look, this is through no fault of my own, and good luck trying to get them to deal with it.

Bruce Billson

This is precisely what the Parliament's navigating right now. Who is accountable? Where do those responsibilities sit? Are the platforms doing enough?

Well, let's do a real life parallel. If you are managing a shopping centre and there were shops in your shopping centre, what type of conduct would you permit to happen? You've got some accountability for trade and commerce in that space that you govern and you manage. Now, the argument is the same should apply to these digital platforms.

And even in some areas Gary, which your listeners need to be alert to, particularly small and family businesses that are relying on these platforms, even the capacity to do a recharge back to a credit card? There is a new scam happening and it's happening with customers sort of saying, look, I've just bought this valuable item off a website that you host as part of your digital platform. I don't think it's being delivered. I want my money back. And then people are actually claiming, falsely, that the material wasn't delivered and the poor old business is faced with, hang on, I've got all the documentation saying it was delivered, you should at least check this out before you unilaterally take some dough back that I've been paid for the product that I've delivered when you're actually being stooged about that.

So, it’s another thing to watch out for.

For your listeners, make sure you've got some way of validating delivery and fulfillment. Otherwise that represents another risk to small and family businesses relying on these platforms.

Gary Adshead

It's funny because I went to a online platform not long ago to buy something in particular. It never came. It was, I don't know, two and a half months. I rang them and eventually said, Look, just give me my money back because it's not coming. They went alright. It turned up yesterday.

Bruce Billson

You might be my case study.

Gary Adshead

They did say if it does happen to turn up, well, good luck to you and so be it. So, they're pretty straight up and down. So now I've got two of the same thing.

Bruce Billson

Well, let me check on that chargeback. When I’m giving those stories, I might need to say a customer - let's call him Gary.

Gary Adshead

Alright, if people want to know about how to set up some safety tips and be secure on their digital platforms through these particular platforms that they should be going to your website.

It's A, S for Sam, B for Bob, F for Fremantle, E for elephant, O dot gov dot au forward slash SM-securely. (www.asbfeo.gov.au/sm-securely) I really appreciate you coming on Bruce.

Bruce Billson

Happy to chat Gary. Best wishes to you and your listeners.

Gary Adshead

Bruce Billson there, the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

MEDIA RELEASE: Small business Ombudsman's guide to using social media securely

Emily Carter — Tue, 28 May 2024 23:20:09 +0000

MEDIA RELEASE: Small business Ombudsman's guide to using social media securely Emily Carter Wed, 05/29/2024 - 09:20

28 May 2024

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, has released a guide for small businesses using social media as their business platform, with tips to reduce the chances of being hacked.

“Using social media can be a valuable way to grow and increase awareness of your business with existing and potential new customers, but there are important precautions that must be taken” Mr Billson said.

“Digital platforms have fundamentally changed the way small businesses connect and sell to their customers. Yet, when there is a problem – such as having your account shut down after being hacked – solving it can be a nightmare.”

Mr Billson said the number of cases involving a small business having problem with a digital platform has more than doubled since July 2022 (up by 127 per cent) and continues to be one of the top requests for assistance that requires a case manager to get involved.

Two-thirds of the cases relate to Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and 75 per cent of those disputes last month alone were about getting access to an account after being hacked.

“In too many cases, when there is a problem, these platforms require a time and resource-poor small business to navigate the most elaborate maze of dead-ends and blockages,” Mr Billson said.

“One of the absurdities of the current situation is after being locked out of your account, you need to access your account to make a complaint. It’s the ultimate run around.”

Mr Billson said the free Guide to Using �Թ�� Securely include tips for small and family businesses about how to reduce the risk of being hacked and steps that can be taken with the digital platforms if you are.

The free guide is available on the ASBFEO website at www.asbfeo.gov.au/sm-securely

“We have helped many small and family businesses across various digital platforms to resolve their disputes, and this guide includes some simple cyber security tips and practices for small businesses to protect themselves,” he said.

“It is important to not overlook important security elements when operating on social media, including how to reduce the risk of your social media accounts being hacked.”

When setting up a business on a digital platform:

Create your profile with the level of privacy and settings you are comfortable with, and that you can easily control and manage.
Make sure you can remove other users or profiles connected to the account and can control their level of page access.
Confirm you can turn ads on or off and can remove or update advertising payment information.
Have your account/s set up so the platform can communicate with you either via an app, text message or email to help with account recovery (should you need it).
Create a separate payment method that is only used for your social media account/s and set a limit on spending.
Keep your account details in a safe place. If your account is hacked and/or disabled, you may need to provide the URL for all your pages/accounts; the phone number and email address; and a screenshot of your page/s with the business name.
Consider expanding your business online presence to more than one platform. If your account is disabled, you can use the other platforms to continue to operate and keep your business going.

“Treat your online business security like you would a shop, factory or your home,” Mr Billson said.

“You wouldn’t give a person you have just met the keys to your business or your house, so only give access to your business account to trusted individuals. And remember not all users require full admin access.

“If you are hacked, report your issue immediately to the platform and make sure you are actually communicating with the platform and not the hacker.”

Mr Billson called on digital platform providers to improve their dispute resolution services.

“Big Tech must do better by its small and family business customers that depend on them,” he said.

“Some of the delays experienced by small businesses have lasted many months and having someone else access and control their account is devastating for their business and their reputation,” he said.

“Small businesses watch helplessly as the financial and emotional damage occurs in real time with no ability to stop it. They lose customers and money, if a credit card linked to these accounts if being used by the hacker or the hacker uses the account to access and harm other customers.

“We are urgently calling for codified, dependable and easy to use internal dispute resolution processes to be adopted by these digital platforms that can get problems resolved quickly.

“They need to be backed up by a real person you can speak to when a problem can’t be easily fixed.

“And this can be supported by a promoted external dispute resolution service, such as ASBFEO, for small businesses that can’t gain a satisfactory outcome when working directly with the platforms.

“Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Amazon, eBay, Shopify or any of the many other digital platform providers, across the board there is an urgent need for them to do better by their small and family business customers.”

MEDIA CONTACT: 0448 467 178

Everyone’s a critic, but small businesses need kindly customers

Donna Acioli — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 01:45:39 +0000

Everyone’s a critic, but small businesses need kindly customers Donna Acioli Mon, 01/17/2022 - 12:45

17 January 2022

Everyone’s a critic, but small businesses need kindly customers

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson is urging people to refrain from posting negative online reviews, as short-staffed small businesses struggle to stay open.

Mr Billson says many small businesses are working hard to keep their doors open and their employees and customers safe, as we learn to live with Covid.

“Small businesses are doing their best to serve their communities, despite the challenges that come with having staff in isolation and supply chain disruptions,” Mr Billson says.

“The best way to support small businesses is to be a kindly customer – patient and understanding, with good and generous intent. Small businesses are run by real people who deserve our respect and empathy.

“Negative online reviews can be devastating for a small business, particularly those that are struggling to recover from tough couple of years. So just put the phone away. Resist the urge to give that unfair one-star review.”

The Ombudsman’s comments about the lasting and damaging impacts of negative online reviews, follows a submission to the Federal Government’s social media inquiry calling for digital platforms to make it easier to remove fake reviews.

“Our office has assisted more than 30 businesses dealing with fake reviews in recent years,” Mr Billson says.

“These so-called reviews hurt business reputations and cause significant distress to staff and business owners.

“Unfortunately, small businesses have few avenues for recourse when a fake review is posted, which is why there needs to be a transparent review system in place.

“In the US, Google acted to protect the interest of the investment application Robinhood by removing hundreds of thousands of fake reviews on its Google Play Store. We believe small businesses should be afforded similar protections of their interests.

“We recommend digital platforms build tools to prevent fake reviews and be clear about the evidence small businesses need to provide to have fake online commentary reviewed and removed.

“Small business owners are under enormous strain as they work get their businesses back on track. Fake reviews are contributing to those mental health pressures. Digital platforms should be doing more to support the small business community.”