Think before you link

This security campaign gives practical advice on how to identify a malicious online profile, how to respond if approached, and how to minimise the risk of being targeted in the first place.

When people in your organisation are networking online, criminals and foreign state actors may target them, using fake online profiles to try and gain access to valuable or sensitive information and resources.

People and organisations with malicious online profiles often pose as recruiters or talent agents and offer enticing opportunities to individuals. Their real intention is to gather as much information as possible from their targets and exploit them for criminal, social, economic, or political gain.

The documents below are resources that will help you to run an effective 'Think before you link' security campaign that:

• educates everyone in your workplace about the threat
• teaches people how to identify a malicious profile or approach
• offers guidance on how to manage suspicious profiles
• may prevent damage to your organisation and potentially to employees careers, and
• protects national security.

Need support? Have feedback?

Please contact the Protective Security Requirements team if you require support or have feedback.

We encourage security teams to report malicious online profiles to us when they come through.

Page last modified: 23/03/2021