Photo by Dev.Arka
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not very good at creating “strong” passwords and I even tend to use the same password for multiple accounts. Basically, I am a hacker’s dream.
Working at Agency Entourage has helped me become a little more conscious about protecting my online presence, but I’m still not out of the woods.
You know what they say, “The first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem.” I know I have an online security problem, I’ve recognized the error in my ways and I’m going to start making more of an effort to protect myself online. Oh and I’m going to stop using my initials in my passwords, too!
If you have trouble protecting your online presence, maybe you’ll find these tips as interesting and helpful as I did. Thanks to an article I read in the Chicago Tribune, “7 Ways to Protect Your Social Media Accounts,” I feel much more equipped for protecting myself and my social accounts against online hackers.
Here are my 5 favorite tips for protecting your social media identity:
1. Create or update accounts with complex passwords.
This one is for my co-worker that lectures me on a weekly basis about the importance of creating complex passwords. Let’s just say that he’s none too thrilled about the go to info that I use to create my social profile passwords.
In reality, it is best to use a string of upper and lower case letters mixed with symbols and numbers. Good luck remembering them though! I suggest finding a secure way to save and remember your log-in information.
2. Keep your browsers current.
Updates really are important. I never put much thought into this before, but now that I’m thinking about it, it makes sense. Hackers are on top of their game 24/7 so you need to be, too. If your Internet browser becomes outdated, your security features will get outdated too. I’m just guessing, but the words security and outdated should probably never be used together in the same sentence!
3. Think before you access viral content.
Just think, “Is this YouTube video really worth the potential virus threat?” Of course not all videos come with the potential for security harm but if you have to question it, don’t click on it! Check the validity of all viral content before you click on the provided links. A few seconds of time spent verifying something initially is far better than the time it would take to get rid of a virus, spam threat or worse, a hacker, later.
4. Watch out for Twitter direct message spam.
I promise you that no matter how many messages you get telling you that “Someone is saying really bad things about you…” it’s not true. Don’t panic, don’t start trying to figure out what people are saying and most importantly, don’t click on the link. Chances are, the poor soul that sent the message to you did click on that exact same link and now their account is plagued with spam. Save yourself and save your social media accounts…don’t fall for spam!
5. Beware of Facebook “Like” scams.
The chances of anything that says, “‘Like’ this post to claim your free pair of Ray Bans” being legit is, unfortunately, slim to none. I’m not saying that liking it is going to cause harm to your Facebook account but I’m not saying it won’t either. It’s always better to be safe than sorry so, once again, just don’t click on it! If you’re not 100% sure about the legitimacy of a Facebook post that is asking for some sort of interaction, just resist the temptation to respond and find another, safe, account to interact with!
Unfortunately not everyone in the social media world has good intentions. The best thing you can do is to protect yourself and all of the information that you put online and, of course, always think before you click.
As a social media marketing agency, we have a large online presence here at Agency Entourage and because of that, we do everything we can to protect all of our company’s online information. What strides are you taking to protect your social media identity?
