The Best Ways To Protect Your Social Media Accounts from hackers via Afrokonnect.
The environment has changed from ancient roman forums and medieval squares to famous cafes that became the birthplace of modern culture.
Still, people’s inherent need for socializing and meeting new people has persisted.
In this day and age, we’ll most likely choose social media to engage in conversation with others, share our thoughts and catch up with the latest news.
However, alongside all its perks, social media can be a pretty hostile environment if you’re not aware of potential threats out there.
Thus, keep reading because we’re bringing you some of the most common security risks and a few tricks that could help protect your accounts.
SOCIAL MEDIA SECURITY RISKS
1. Data harvesting and data leaking
It’s not a secret that social media platforms like to hold onto our data and use it to analyze our behavior patterns and improve their user experience.
Nevertheless, there is a dark side to this practice as well.
Social media accounts are easy to break into, and this makes them a common target for cybercriminals.
Consequently, data from millions of users get sold on the black market every day, and if it gets into the wrong hands, it could do irreparable damage to any involved user.
Always be careful what personal information you’re sharing with your social media provider, and prioritize your privacy.
2. Hacking of social media accounts
If someone gets their fingers on your social media credentials, it could easily lead to an account takeover and potentially identity theft.
You should be especially careful if you’re running a business account on social media because they tend to be the most prone to hacking.
3. Phishing attacks
Hackers are getting more creative with developing hooks that can get your credentials in a few easy clicks.
For instance, one of the most common ways is to create a legitimate-looking login page that’ll swipe your personal information as soon as you log in and then redirect you to an actual login page.
If you notice some suspicious activity, make sure to report it right away, and change your password as soon as you can.
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HOW TO SECURE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT
1. Take proper care of your passwords
Most data breach cases are associated with low password quality.
Hence, make sure to create strong credentials that’ll properly guard your accounts.
Your passwords should be long and unique, and you should never use the same password for several different accounts.
In fact, research suggests that 72 percent of people reuse their passwords in their personal lives.
A great trick when coming up with a new password is to use a whole sentence instead of a word and replace vowels with numbers (e.g., p3nc1l instead of a pencil).
This way, you’ll create much stronger credentials, and you’ll have a better chance of remembering them.
2. Use a password manager
Since memorization isn’t one of the humans’ best traits, you should consider using a password manager to keep your passwords out of danger.
As any good manager should, a password manager will take on your password responsibilities and leave you with peace of mind.
For example, it’ll generate unique and hard-to-guess passwords for every account you have and store them in an encrypted vault so that your credentials stay untouched even if someone tries to break into your accounts.
Encryption will make your passwords look like a pile of gibberish to any unauthorized party who tries to log in.
3. Keep your photos private
When talking about social media security, you most likely think of securing your passwords.
But, regardless of the importance of having solid credentials, you should protect your posts as well.
For instance, the first step should be making your photos more private on social media.
With phone cameras becoming better every day, photos you post on social media can reveal more information than you want.
Also, if you have the geo tagging option on your device turned on, we highly recommend switching it off since any savvier hacker can get through the metadata and find where and when you took the photo.
How to Protect Your Social Media Accounts from hackers
4. Add two-factor authentication
When you’re not sure what the weather will be like, the best advice is to dress in layers.
Well, since you can never predict circumstances on the internet, make sure to layer your account protection as well.
You can add another verification factor over your standard password and keep cybercriminals at bay.
Two-factor authentication most commonly includes adding elements like SMS-message received passcode, fingerprint, or a face scan, depending on your preferences.
This way, hackers have to get both – your password and your biometrics to break into your account, which is highly improbable.
What’s more, these days, social media platforms began implementing 2FA into their security strategy.
For example, Facebook offers three security methods to choose from – an SMS received code, codes from a third-party authentication app, or tapping on a security key on another device.
Therefore, make sure to check your social media platforms and select the 2FA security method that’s most suitable for your needs.
5. Turn on notifications for suspicious login attempts
Alongside two-factor authentication, the vast majority of social media platforms have a suspicious login attempt feature where you can adjust settings to alert you if someone tries to access your account from an unknown device.
For instance, Facebook and Twitter alert their users by sending an email or a notification to a trusted device.
If you don’t recognize the activity, you can let them know by clicking on ‘This wasn’t me,’ and you’ll get the option to change your password to keep your account safe.
Conclusion
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If you want to protect your social media accounts adequately, bear in mind that you’ll have to battle on multiple fronts.
From diving into the Privacy Policy on every active social media account and removing metadata from photos you post online to making sure your credentials are well-stored and encrypted – the list tends to be a lengthy one.
However, if you’ve just started upgrading your security framework, implement these suggestions one at a time and see what fits you the best because a solid security strategy relies much more on consistency and good maintenance than on expensive programs and tools.
FAQ
How to protect your social media accounts from hackers
Watch the video below for more insightful information about how to protect your account from hackers;
How can we protect social media?
To keep your social media account safe from hackers, follow these best practices:
- Don’t accept friend request from strangers with no mutuals
- Don’t sign into unverifiable third party applications with your social media account
- Be cautious with the images you post and avoiding sharing your location unnecessarily
- Configure your security options on your accounts to minimize who can see your information.
- Use two factor authentication
