Social Media is a huge part of personal life and business life these days and can be a great way to keep in touch with family, friends and know the latest news. But Social Media Security has to be at the forefront of our minds.
The last thing you want is for someone to gain access to your accounts, and anything else you do online.
Here is a checklist to keep your personal information safe while still enjoying the benefits of making social media connections
Make sure to use a unique and strong password for you every social account. Your password must include numbers, words, upper and lowercase letters, and special characters. Change your password at least once a month. Try to keep different passwords for different social media accounts. If you are having a problem to manage your passwords, you can use password managers.
If you are using two-factor authentication on your social accounts, it will add an extra layer of security to them. When someone logs into your account from new location, device or browser; you will be sent a password, that needs to be entered for logging into your social account. This means that every time you log in, you’ll also need to enter a unique code sent on your phone by the social media website
All social media platforms give you the option to limit your audience. But many people are unaware of its importance. It is necessary for every user to explore, try and overview those settings. You can also set up security questions on your accounts. Instead of setting common questions like “What is your mother’s name?” or “From where you are?”, use questions that are hard for everyone to think about.
Avoid sharing personal information online because your information, including your email address, phone number, and social security number, is worth a lot of money to hackers and data mining companies.
Take a look at your social media profiles and try to keep them barren—the people who need to know your birth date, email address and phone number already have them.
A VPN, or virtual private network, is a useful tool to secure an internet connection. It guarantees that data you are sending and receiving is encrypted, preventing people from snooping on your traffic.
You should use a VPN provider that you trust to not harvest and re-sell your data. The best VPNs often charge a monthly subscription - this is a good thing because it means their business model is not reliant upon reselling your data to advertisers.
Keep your system updated with the latest antivirus. Never operate an internet-enabled computer without installing anti-malware and antivirus software. There are many paid and unpaid antivirus software available. To secure mobile devices, use antivirus apps to secure your online activity and important data.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are full of fake profiles. Those fake accounts can be a hacker, a suspicious organization or even a frenemy who wants to monitor your activities. Don’t accept any friend request without verification. If someone is disturbing you, it's good to report and block such profiles.
Keep a habit of checking your emails regularly. Many people ignore emails from Facebook, Twitter or other social accounts. They might think that it's a notification from their friends, but it could be login attempt by a hacker, and your social platform wants to inform you about it. If you got a suspicious email or login attempt to your account, change your password as soon as possible.
Use an updated browser for a pleasant browsing experience. Make sure to use the latest version of the browser that is not vulnerable to hackers. Also, don't save your passwords on your browser because if your system gets compromised, hackers can easily read your saved passwords from the browser in just a few clicks.
The last important and good practice is, always log off to your system when you are done with it.
Turn off your GPS to keep your exact location private. If you plan to share images online turn off the GPS function to protect your safety.
Old social media accounts you haven’t used in years can risk you personal data security. Delete account and remove as much personal information as possible.
Try to avoid accessing your social media accounts on public or other shared computers. But if you must do so, remember to log out completely by clicking the “log out” button on the social media website to terminate the online session.
You should add a webcam cover on your laptop and desktop computers. A webcam cover provides peace of mind when entering and exiting video calls that you are only visible when you choose to be.
You should protect yourself from people shoulder-surfing when working in a public space, such as a cafe or on a plane. A privacy screen blocks side views outside a 60 degree viewing angle.