How To Stay Safe on Social Media: Tips and recommendations

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives; we use it to communicate with friends, keep up with current events and share parts of our lives for our friends and family to see. This is a wonderful aspect of social media, the ability to stay in touch no matter where you are around the world. However, this information that is shared also allows hackers and scammers to have access to us. The random and seemingly unconnected pieces of information shared on social media can allow hackers to piece together confidential and private pieces of people’s lives. This information can then be used to steal identities, or even allow people to be scammed. In this article, we will be discussing six tips on how to stay safe on social media to avoid identity theft or falling victim to scams.

Strong passwords keep data safe

A strong password can make the difference between getting your account hacked or having your account, and personal data, remain safe from hackers. A strong password with a random string of small letters, capital letters, characters and numbers will ensure your account remains safe from attack. Another tip for staying safe on social media is to ensure you are using a different password for every social media account, and you update each regularly. This is to ensure that if your account ever gets hacked, your other accounts also aren’t at risk. A strong password manager can help keep your passwords safe and secure in a central location.

Two-Factor Authentication prevents unauthorized access

Two-Factor Authentication is when an app or device has two different ways to access your account, such as a password and a fingerprint. An example of this is when Google requires a password to sign in and also requires authorization on your phone when you sign in to your account on a new device. This protection allows you to control the devices logged into your accounts, deny any suspicious login requests or renew your password.

Keeping your profile private prevents your data being stolen

All social media platforms allow you to choose whether you want your profile to remain private or open for anyone to view. We recommend you keep your profile private to protect yourself from having hackers follow you on social media and stealing your information through the content you post. Keeping your profile private will reduce the risk of you falling victim to a scam or having your identity stolen. The most normal content can sometimes accidentally reveal private information, such as your location or the name of your pets.

Friend or connection requests need to be double-checked

We would recommend you only accept friend or connection requests from people you already know and have a friendship with. This is to ensure you are staying safe on social media and do not allow any fake profiles created by scammers into your private network, giving them access to all your private information such as location, friends, photographs, and interests.

Privacy policies need to be reviewed to understand data handling changes

Remember to review the privacy policies of each social media platform to ensure that your private information is protected and not being shared with third parties. We recommend reviewing them every two to three months, as privacy policies are regularly updated and the social media platforms can add new terms allowing your data to be sold to third parties.

Social media scams are defeated through awareness

It is important to be cognizant of the current social media scams and phishing campaigns that are occurring to avoid falling victim to them. We recommend you not click on any suspicious links that redirect you to a different website when scrolling through different social media platforms, even those found in comments on posts or sent to you via a direct message from an unfamiliar person, as a way of staying safe on social media.
 

Conclusion: Social media accounts are easy pickings for hackers

These tips and recommendations will allow your social media accounts to remain protected and will allow you to stay safe on social media. In conclusion, ensure your passwords are strong and changed regularly, enable two-factor authentication, keep your profile private, only accept requests from people you know, regularly read the privacy policies on the social media platforms, and do not click on suspicious links when scrolling through any social media platform.

Register for our free phishing course to learn more about phishing and how to identify it on social media.