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Safeguard your social media accounts with security protocols that are easy to set up.
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Use strong passwords that you change regularly, and don't use password hints!
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Enable multifactor authentication and check your login activity regularly.
Its, unfortunately, very common for social media accounts to get hacked or compromised. Yet, its extremely easy to set up security protocols to keep your accounts safe. All it takes is about five minutes to set up. Dont risk your personal data!
Keeping Your Accounts Secure Isnt Hard
Todays world is digital, and your social media accounts keep you connected to family, friends, and the latest news. Do you know how vulnerable your data might be? Social media accounts are a main target for hackers. The best way to protect your accounts is to stay one step ahead by following the latest in cybersecurity protocol.
Take Passwords Seriously
When the internet was new, people only had to remember a short password to log in to their accounts. These days, passwords are required to be strong, meaning they need capital letters, numbers, special characters, and must meet a certain length. Many people use password hints or rotate their passwords around multiple loginsthese are terrible ideas! Often, the answers to your password hints (for example, Whats your pets name?) can be easily researched via your public posts or those of your friends and family.
Instead of these ineffective tactics, its a good idea to use password generators ( Google and LastPass both offer tools to make this easier) instead. Make sure not to use the same passwords across different logins because once a hacker has one working login, they will definitely try to use this information to access other accounts, such as your personal banking. Dont make it easy for bad actors to access your data. And please dont write your passwords on a Post-it note or in a notebook on your desk, especially in a public office or when using a shared computer.
For extra credit, go the extra mile and set yourself reminders to actively change your passwords every 36 months. When you do change your passwords, dont just add another number or put an exclamation point at the end. Hackers are well aware of these common lazy password updates, and your accounts wont be safe!
Stop Sharing Personal Info in Your Posts
Password hints are dangerous to use because its far too easy for bad actors to find personal information about you and figure out the answers to those hints. Your birthdate, hometown, mothers birth name, and other common password hints are fairly easy to find in the information thats shown in a public profile.
In fact, Generation Alpha is facing a potential identity theft crisis in the future, thanks to their parents publicly posting crucial details about them from the day that theyre born. When your friend posts about their new baby, theyre basically publicly sharing the childs birthdate, full name, location, etc. When that child gets older, theres a chance that the childs identity could be in jeopardy because all of their life details have been publicly available on social media for years.
Take a Minute to Turn on 2FA
When it comes to keeping your account secure, 2FA (also known as multifactor authentication) is an easy way to ensure that youre the only one who can access your account . It might be slightly annoying to get a code from a third-party app, but its a lot less annoying than dealing with your account getting hacked. I recommend using Google Authenticator because it saves your 2FA information to the cloud, so you wont get locked out if you switch phones.
Each social platform will have different options when it comes to account security and privacy. You can see what options your app of choice has by navigating to your account settings. Most social platforms have many tools available to improve the security of your account. Meta provides a whole Privacy Checkup on Facebook and Instagram, which is worth checking out on a regular basis. Other social sites like Snapchat and LinkedIn also support 2FA. Take a look at your privacy and settings to see what options are available on your favorite social apps.
Monitor Your Account Activity
While youre in your Security Settings to establish your 2FA, youll also want to take a look at the login activity for your account and end any sessions that you dont recognize. In fact, if you do see sessions that you dont recognize, you should definitely update your password while youre at it! Check your login activity regularly to make sure nobody is lurking in your account. Keep in mind that if you use your account to log onto another website, it might show up as a session that you dont recognize.
There might be a few extra steps, but keeping your accounts secure is important. Follow these best practices to help safeguard your social media profiles and make sure nobody has access to your personal information.
