Social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pastebin, etc. Connect us with family, colleagues, classmates, business partners and customers, and even absolute fools. Everyone enjoys using social media and is willing to do that all day.
Social media can change the lives of people who run businesses. By spreading news about its brand and attracting more customers, it helps business owners build loyalty. This is a main reason why digital marketing for business growth is the right solution.
Most importantly, this is a very easy way, because everyone they are looking for can be found there. However, most social media users know very little about its security and are therefore vulnerable to cyber attackers. They often disclose private information about themselves, from professional to mobile contact address. Attackers can use this information to commit serious crimes, such as stealing their identity or financial information.
Table of Content:
Fortunately, some several actionable techniques/measures to keep your social media accounts secure:
- • Using a password manager
- • Clicking links with much caution
- • Avoiding acceptance of random friend requests
- • Reading privacy policies
- • Avoid disclosing personal information
- • Updating software on the device
- • Customizing privacy settings
- • Logging out after using social media
Using a Password Manager
Most people use incredibly weak passwords and even reuse them on other sites. But what worries most people is how they remember all the strong and special passwords they use on different accounts.
Reusing passwords is a vicious problem, because in the past there were countless instances of password leaks even on reputable websites.
In case of password leakages, criminals would have the combination of your email addresses, username, and the password and would use them to attempt on other sites. Using the exact same password on multiple accounts, a leakage at one website would enable attackers to access these accounts.
We access our social media accounts on several devices – tablets, PCs, and mobile phones. Anytime we are logging in using a new device, it’s crucial to make sure that it is completely secured from cyber-threats like having a strong antivirus package.
Nevertheless, social network accounts are a haven to cybercriminals, we must learn how to protect our identity with a strong password manager. Most people are using the same password for several social media accounts.
In addition, this is logical because it is not feasible to store a special and complex unique password for each personal account. Considering the varlious social network platforms we have registered, we must strive to create a unique password for each platform. At this time, a password manager is very suitable.
A password manager stores users’ login details and enables them to log into the accounts automatically. A password manager encrypts the password database using a master password.
Suppose you want to log in to your Facebook account using a password manager, you can visit the Facebook website normally. Then, you will be asked to enter the master password (that is, the password for the password manager) instead of entering the password on this site!
The password manager will automatically provide the correct login details to your Facebook account. In this case, there is no need to consider the username or email address or phone number and password that are usually “entered” in a regular login. Allow users to generate two-factor authentication, which allows the password to be sent to the phone, or set up multi-factor authentication to collect their biometric details, such as fingerprints for authentication.When registering a new account, the password manager allows new users to create a protected random password so that they don’t have to struggle to remember it.
Rejecting Random Friend Requests
We only have a couple of hundred friends and we have by now almost included all the people that we know.
So what is the need of accepting friend requests from total strangers?
People we don’t know as friends on our social media accounts is a bad idea for a number of reasons:
First, they can see what you post or comment.
- • What business does a stranger have when they view your activities?
- • Is it necessary for them to see photos of your lovely family, know where your beloved daughter goes to school?
- • Is it their business to know that you’re married and you do a particular kind of job?
A stranger with an evil motive will certainly get this information and steal your identity. Do not hurry to accept all your friend requests, instead, do a thorough screening. Most people on social media want to have much following as their favorite celebrities, with little knowledge about the kind of people they are exposing themselves to. This is one of the most common trends seen in social media.
It is dangerous to accept everyone who asks to follow us on our social media accounts. On the contrary, we must be cautious when accepting requests from friends, because some people are looking for our personal information for malicious purposes.
Using the name, date of birth, occupation, geographic location, education, marital status, and other information corresponding to your profile picture, criminals can easily impersonate you and impersonate your identity. Also, it is vital to learn what attackers could potentially ruin your name with phony accounts. They can as well send malicious links using your name to your friends.
Upon clicking on these links, your friends will be directed to compromised websites infected with malware or phishing websites meant to lure them into disclosing their financial information – all in the name of you.
Don’t Click Links Anyhow
On social media, people are tempted to click on links that appear to be sent from well-known websites such as FedEx, Office 365, ManBetx, Fun88, Microsoft, etc.; but these links are sent by criminals. The attacker knew very well that people clicked on the link without reading the entire message.
For example, if you click on a link that appears to be sent by ManBetx, you will be directed to a page similar to the real ManBetx, with an accurate login window. After logging in, criminals will obtain your password and use other sensitive accounts (such as your PayPal or bank account) to test it.
There are several ways you can protect yourself from falling in these traps.
- First, if in the link you are requested to provide your personal information, treat it with suspicion.
- Second, confirm who the sender of the link is.
For instance, if the sender is Microsoft and their address is microsoftsupport677@gmail.com, don’t bother responding to their request.
- • Third, if you doubt it, contact the alleged sender to verify the authenticity of the message.
- • Fourth, watch carefully the links before clicking on them.
By hovering the mouse over the hyperlink, the full URL will be seen which can tell the legitimacy of the link.
- • Fifth, criminals are ignorant of copy editing so if the text has typos, avoid it.
- • Lastly, install security software that can diagnose and block the unauthentic websites. By following the above steps, you’ll reduce the chances of being victimized by phishing criminals.
Don’t Disclose All Your Personal Information
When you want to share your private details online, please consider the potential risks, the security of the information after sharing, and whether it is necessary to do so. Personal information allows criminals to immediately access your credit information, bank account, and even your assets. Think no one wants to know your personal information on social media, please reconsider! You can be the next victim.
Notable methods criminals use to fetch private information is by giving the wrong identity and luring people to give their financial details, passwords, and other sensitive information. With these details, they can easily purchase items.
Hackers send emails and messages that appear legitimate and that seem to be sent by financial or government authorities, online merchants, or organizations you might have conducted businesses with. In this message, you may be instructed to click on a link or contact through a specific number to claim a specific bonus or update certain information in your account.
Sometimes people are forced to respond, otherwise, they will face some repercussions. This is caused by sharing too much personal information on social media. Criminals can access sensitive information, such as address, telephone contact, email, work location, sensitive photos, etc. To avoid digital insecurity, it is recommended to avoid excessive sharing of personal information on social media.
Read the Privacy Policies
Before registering for any social network account, it is important to read the privacy policy to understand how to handle your information. Some online companies (such as Facebook) let you know that you can sell your information to advertisers. If you are not satisfied with this, you can object to the registration of such platforms.
Customizing Privacy Settings
After reading the privacy policy carefully, it’s important to customize it so that only a certain group of people can see your content. This is not just to protect your information from cybercriminals for security reasons, but to ensure that only people you choose can view it.
Log Out When Done
Think about what happens when you lose all the phones that are logged into your account. If it falls under the control of hackers, the situation will be very different. Logging out from our social media accounts, especially on portable devices, is safer.
Conclusion
There are countless ways to keep criminals away from our social networks, and most criminals don’t even need to spend a minute. The above suggestions not only apply to social networks, but are also ways to stay safe while browsing on the Internet.
Nevertheless, it is easy to forget the amount of information disclosed on social media. We must always pay attention to our own way.
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