A fun trending photo, a few lines of personal information... behind the viral interaction-grabbing trend of "running for village head" on social media lies a major risk to information security and privacy.

To create photos following this trend, many people publicly share their portraits, full names, year of birth, hometown, and occupation. This data can be exploited to impersonate identities, create deepfake content, or serve personalized scams. Image-generating websites and applications of unknown origin also pose potential risks of spreading malware, stealing accounts, and collecting user data.

In addition to cybersecurity risks, some photo templates also use the National Emblem or simulate administrative documents, which can lead to legal issues, violating laws and State regulations.

Bkav experts advise citizens:

• Limit publicly sharing portraits along with unnecessary personal information

• Do not upload personal photos to applications or websites of unknown origin

• Be cautious with online image-generating tools that request data access permissions

• Do not use the National Emblem or symbols representing State authority in entertainment content

Bkav