How To Reach Social Media Security

Social media accounts are powerful tools for businesses and individuals alike. That’s why more and more brands are finding their way into various social media platforms in an attempt to expand their market reach and create useful social circles. However, while this is a good thing, not everyone on those platforms is to be trusted. We have heard stories of how hackers take over various accounts and use them to pass their agendas. In this article, you’ll learn how to reach social media security.

So, although your social media account might seem too small to attract hackers, your information is a valuable commodity that you should guard.

In this article, we give you useful tips on how to reach social media security. Read on!

Oversharing refers to when you share too much personal information on your account on social media. Some of the ways you can overshare your details on social media include:

Posting intimate information about your family, relationships, and any other drama that should be dealt with offline
Venting through your social media account. It could be through a video or post
Posting intimate and embarrassing photos and videos of yourself/others on your account
Feeling the need to post about your every move. Tagging your location or simply “checking in”
Posting about everything you’re doing throughout the day
Posting all your meals

While it’s easy to get carried by the social media hype and share all these, you should avoid it because it can be unhealthy, cause some security problems, or even hurt your reputation.

Therefore, be selective about what you share, avoid posting while angry, and avoid getting too attached to social media.

Spam

Social media channels are a target for spammers. They target their victims by posting spammy comments, tagging them everywhere, sending numerous messages, giving false reviews, and many other ways.

The best way to deal with spammers is to report and block them as soon as you see them, audit your followers, and not randomly accept connection requests. Take time to go through their profile and see if there’s any red flag. Unfollow anyone you’re not comfortable with.

Most of the time, when hackers gain access to your social media account, they’re likely to damage your reputation.

First, they will try gaining your trust or sending you enticing deals with interesting links. Once you click on them, the malware will steal your credentials and other information, which they will use to access your account.

Therefore, always avoid interacting with people you don’t know. And most importantly, don’t click on those links they send/post on your account.

Phishing

This is a common social media attack to reach social media security, especially through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Like Malware, the aim is to access your credentials and take charge of your account.

The difference, however, is that in phishing, the hackers will send you messages posing to be from the real social media site. They ask you to confirm your personal information or log in, and they then capture your details and gain access to your account.

Therefore, it’s important to cross-check any messages you receive, although sometimes it can be difficult to separate messages from real site owners from fake ones. That’s why some platforms have come up with two-step authentication whenever logging in.

Also, you might want to keep that misunderstanding with your spouse private. Not everything is for the public. Most of your social media friends don’t know you personally, and the fact is, they really care little about what’s going on in your life to reach social media security. Besides, anyone can be dangerous.

As we already mentioned earlier, it’s important to avoid posting too much personal information on your social media account. You don’t you to let everyone, including strangers, know where you’re at every chance, what you’re eating, or where your children study.

Do not Click on Strange Links

While some of your social media friends might share genuine and useful links with you, spammers do take advantage of this fact. Most bad links will fool you into clicking them by using an enticing title. For instance, the most common one on Facebook is “I saw you in this video, or you can’t believe who I saw in this video.

Avoid clicking on such links. You can also use your account settings to restrict people from posting links in the comment section.

Do not Answer Emails from Strange Accounts

Some strange accounts may even gain access to your email address and send you luring messages. Some may even say how interested they’re in connecting with you. Most of the time, they include links where you’ve to click. Avoid answering such emails. If you have to create a new email, first search their names using the toolbar on social media platforms and check out their accounts for any red alert.

Never Mention Locations or Directions of Important Places

Avoid mentioning the exact location of important places such as your home, location in your social media interactions, or profile. It’s even worse to give exact directions to people you don’t even know.

Always pick unknown calls with caution. And if the caller asks private questions, disconnect immediately and block them. To be on the safe side, it’s advisable to use a reverse phone lookup service provider such as Spokeo before picking strange calls. It will give you all the records associated with the cell phone number or landline used by the caller.

Social media platforms are here to stay, and it’s your responsibility to ensure you’re safe on those platforms. To do so, avoid oversharing, clicking on strange links, answering strange accounts, answering strange calls, and mentioning locations of important places, such as your home.

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