- March 2019
- Premier America
In today’s digital world, it can seem like hackers are lurking around every corner waiting to steal your information and use it to help themselves to everything from your credit card accounts to your identity. If you have social media accounts, it’s just as important to secure them as it is to secure your other online accounts. Here’s how:
- Don’t sacrifice security for convenience. When you log into your accounts, you’ll often be asked whether you want to save your password or activate the auto login feature. Don’t. These options may be convenient and save you time when you want to log into your accounts, but it can also make it easier for hackers to access your user names and passwords.
- Adjust your private settings. When you set up a social media account, the default privacy settings are typically the least restrictive. Consider adjusting your settings to limit who can see your posts.
- Monitor your email for login notifications. Most accounts send you an email when someone logs in from a device it doesn’t recognize. These emails can alert you that someone is trying to access your account without your permission.
- Set up a separate email address to use only with your social media accounts. If your social media accounts get hacked and the fraudsters get into the email account that’s linked to them, the information they’ll have access to will be limited.
- Close old accounts. If you have accounts you no longer use, close them right away. If you’re not consistently monitoring them, you may not notice if someone is trying to gain unauthorized access to your account.
- Choose what you post carefully. You don’t want to make it any easier for fraudsters to gather personal information about you that they can use against you.