What an unpleasant feeling to discover that one of your accounts on social networks has been hacked, even if you are not an influencer or a company. In addition, it is that the information they can access can lead to something even worse, such as fraud, theft and other crimes. Although nothing is completely safe and insurmountable, here are some of the best tips to protect your social media accounts from hacker attacks.
Always use strong passwords
Although this advice is not new, unfortunately it continues to be repeated about using passwords that are easy for us to write and memorize and that we have also repeated in several places. Big mistake: password is the easiest way to hack your accountso putting in an easy-to-guess key is exposing yourself.
Among the mistakes when choosing a password is using common information such as your date of birth, your name, obvious patterns like ‘123456’ or similar. A good password should be alphanumeric, include upper and lower case and non-repeating special characters.
Activate two-factor authentication
While not foolproof, two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security access to your accounts since it is not enough to just type the password, but you will have to verify your identity from another of your devices using unique access codes or biometric systems.
Thus, if someone discovered your password and tried to access your account, you would receive the second phase warning to be able to enter, which would cause all the alarms to go off if you did not request it. So if the social network allows it (and nowadays, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook do), better spend time going through the privacy section of the settings to activate it.
Create individual passwords for all your accounts
Given the number of services, platforms and applications that are available, it is easy to forget the odd password. So, repeating keys seems like a good idea, but it’s not: increases vulnerability of this.
Imagine if all the locks on your possessions (your house, gym locker, car) were the same: if someone got a key to one, they could get into all of them. The same goes for repeating passwords..
Without going any further, something like this is done when a series of passwords for a service are exposed: there are those who take advantage of them to try to access other services and as you can imagine, it has an effect. With individual passwords, if someone accesses one of your accounts, the rest of your networks will remain secure..
Use a password manager
We have already said that the ideal is to have robust, complex and long passwords and that these are also unique, which greatly hinders the process of memorizing and applying of this.
Fortunately, you can always use a password manager, a tool that stores your passwords in an encrypted database and also helps you generate new passwords.
Change your passwords frequently
It may sound like a more complex loop, but in terms of security, 100% inbreakable passwords do not exist and while adding two-factor authentication and using a password manager add more barriers, you never know.
Changing your passwords periodically is useful not only if you discover that there has been a key leak, but also if you receive phishing messages or attempts, or simply if you access from an untrusted device. Of course, make sure that your new password is at least as strong as the old one.
Turn on login notifications
It seems silly, but notifications to access a social network notify us when we try to enter, offering data such as date and time, location and operating system, among others. Normally it will be us, so calm down.
But what if we are not? If someone tries to access your account and it’s not you, then you have some leeway to change your password as soon as possible. Normally, this function is available within the application settings, in the privacy options.
Avoid accessing your accounts on public devices or open networks
A computer from a library or a hotel lounge can be a lifesaver for specific procedures, but if you want to use it to access your Twitter or Instagram profile, it is better to take extreme precautions, since perhaps the computer is not adequately protected or directly, do not close session.
The same happens with open networks in which you do not know who is online and what is he doingsince a hacker could be monitoring what is happening and accessing the information.
Ignore suspicious links and messages
Who more who less receives from time to time a message with links or you come across them while browsing the internet. Some are obvious, but others can be interesting enough and a priori innocuous enough for you to be tempted to click.
Those links can contain malicious files or open the door to a phishing attack where we provide personal information or that prompt us to log into a platform that claims to be what it is not. For example, a page that emulates the entrance interface to your Twitter where you click and enter your username and password.
When in doubt, better be wary and not follow those links. And if you want to enter a certain service, make sure you are on the original website: a good way to do it is simply by entering the address in the browser bar.
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In Xataka Mobile | How to rescue a hacked account from Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and more platforms