With the uprise of technology and social media unfortunately comes more and more relentless hackers. Although we may jokingly say we feel like our social media accounts are being watched and studied, there could be scary validity to that. But we can’t be completely hopeless and defenseless, right? You bet we’re not! Here are different ways you can protect your social media accounts from being hacked.
Get crazy with your password
Look, sometimes a birthday, birth year or your own name followed by your birthday and/or birth year just doesn’t cut it. As a matter of fact, hackers look for this stuff on your page and can very easily hack into your account by using it. If you really want to trip these crazies up, do things such as alternate between lowercase and uppercase, use off the wall words, odd number combinations and, if allowed, symbols. I know it may seem like a lot, but at the end of the day, what sounds like a better deal, writing absolute nonsense down on a piece of paper or getting your account hacked? Exactly.
Don’t just go crazy with your password once; do it occasionally
It may be hard to remember, but changing your password every now and then can also make it harder for hackers to gain access to your profiles. But don’t worry, you don’t have to come up with AlienpigLover3000 every week, just when you think it’s been a while.
2. Make two-factor authentication your best friend
Some social media platforms require this, but setting up two-factor authentication on ALL of your accounts, required or not, is a really good idea. Two-factor authentication means that if someone is trying to login to your accounts without your knowledge, you will receive a PIN or some sort of alert via SMS, email or another account linked to the account potentially being hacked. Pretty clever, right? So clever that Paul Bischoff, a privacy advocate with Comparitech, believes it is key to keeping your social media accounts safe from hackers.
3. Don’t let just anyone have access to your account
This one seems a bit obvious, but don’t just give your account information to anyone under the sun. If you’re going to share it at all, make sure you can trust the person(s) with your LIFE. The future is unpredictable and giving your account information to people who could possibly not be a part of your life anymore one day could turn into a negative thing fast. Just be smart and make good choices.
If a link looks STUPID and meaningless… It probably is
We all know those bizarre links that we clicked on as kids that did nothing but immediately put us on a first-class flight to computer virus city. If you’re lucky enough to say that this hasn’t happened to you, congratulations, you were a smarter kid than I was! Hackers can actually use these links to directly install viruses on your phone, computer, etc. If they can do that much, chances are they can gain access to everything you may have on these devices; including account information. As fun as it may seem to make fun of the stupid way that these message links present themselves, do NOT engage!
That concludes our list on how to prevent your social media accounts from getting hacked! Have any more tips? Drop them in the comments section!