What is a Dark Web Alert?
A dark web alert is a notification you receive when your personal information, such as your passwords, have been found on the dark web. Without a dark web alert, you won’t know when your personal information...
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7 Tips for Staying Safe on Social Media
Social media plays a vital role in allowing people from all over the world to communicate almost instantly; however, it is critical to manage your digital footprint as well as the security and privacy settings on your accounts in order for your personal information to be accessible only to you. Here are seven ways to help you stay safe on social media.
Use Strong Passwords
Cyberattacks are growing in complexity and frequency, which makes password choice more important than ever. A strong password is long, complex, and unique. The same password or versions of the same password should never be used across multiple accounts.
Here are some tips to amp up your password security:
- Include a combination of letters, special characters and numbers having a password length equal to a minimum of 12 characters – but not sequentially. For example, avoid 12345678.
- Avoid any personal information that can be found online, such as your birthday, school, family members or your dog’s name!
- If you use a dictionary word in your password, swap out some of the letters with numbers and symbols. For example, you can use 3 instead of E, or use zero instead of O.
- Use a password generator to create and store strong, unique passwords in a secure vault. You’ll only have to remember your one master password to access the others
Use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
If you require access to high-value or sensitive accounts and records such as company accounts or social media scheduling tools, you should add an extra layer of security to supplement usernames and passwords. Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) codes are a type of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) that adds an important second layer of security to logins. To be authenticated, they require the user to enter a multi-digit verification code. The verification code is typically delivered via SMS text message or a third-party authenticator app such as Google Authenticator. The two-factor authentication code ensures that the user is not impersonated.
Use a Different Password for Each Social Media Accounts
Creating a different password for each of your online accounts may seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it to protect your data from cybercriminals. You can prevent compromised accounts by utilizing cybersecurity tools like password managers and multi-factor authentication.
There is more sensitive information than you might imagine stored in your social media accounts. For instance, shopping ads are constantly populating on our social media feeds. Only buy from reputable companies since when a purchase has been made through social media, your credit card information, email address and more sensitive data is saved within your social media account for future purchases. Because of this, if cybercriminals gain access to your social account, they’ll also be able to get your credit card and other sensitive information.
Be Selective With Friend Requests
If you don’t know the person, decline their invitation. It could be a fake account attempting to obtain personal information about you from browsing your profile. Keep it strictly to known family, friends and colleagues!
Don’t Publish Personal Information
Don’t provide any critical personal information, including your home address, credit card number or phone number. The more posts you make, the easier it is for cybercriminals to steal your identity.
Don’t Share Travel Plans
It’s common for people to post their next vacation on social media. After all, is it really a vacation if you don’t document it on Instagram? However, doing so can put you at risk for a cyberattack. You may be wondering how that’s even possible. Well, many cyberthreats stem from social engineering attacks. Social engineering uses manipulation to trick you into giving away sensitive information. Cybercriminals use the information you provide on social media to plan their next attack. When you post about future travel plans, you give the cybercriminal ammunition to be their next victim. Some attacks go beyond the internet and could target your home since the attacker is aware that you will be gone for a period of time. To avoid being a victim of a social engineering attack, don’t share your geolocation when traveling and always share the least information possible as you don’t know who could be watching your activity through social media.
Use the Strongest Privacy Settings
Review the privacy settings carefully since some apps allow you to enable certain settings such as:
- Keep your profile private.
- Hide your friends.
- Hide your posts from the public.
- Disable searchability in Google and other search engines.
Some tools help control the amount of personal information you put online; others allow you to wipe the details of sites you have visited, or searches you have made, from your computer or device. For example, look for options that enable you to set your history to delete on a regular basis. Coordinate your settings so that they hold true across all of your devices.
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