Cyber ​​Security Awareness Month: 5 practical steps you can take to secure your social media accounts

Instances can often be divided into two categories. The pros and cons. With an era rapidly approaching where our identities now exist in both the real world and the virtual world, we must consider that the convenience it offers may come with some drawbacks.

It is important to consider that the degree of security we have for the real world should also be imposed on our virtual space.

There are several actions Internet users can take to ensure that their personal information, which could be both sensitive and essential, remains out of the reach of unknown persons. Here are the security measures you can take to protect your social media accounts.

Create a strong password

Passwords act as keys to your social media accounts. Without it, hackers who aim to steal your data can’t really do much. Create a unique password with a mix of letters, numbers, and characters, if the social media platform allows it, to make it harder to guess. According to Investor.gov, you also need to change it frequently.

Be careful with account information

Don’t give out your social security numbers, banking information, or anything related to your financial information through social media. It is ideal to use the telephone, to send a letter, to use a company e-mail or a website sponsored by a company.

If you need to provide bank, credit card, or debit information, do so only on trusted sites. However, if you need to make a payment or purchase and prefer to pay directly, make sure you have a separate account that contains little or the exact amount you need for the purchase or payment.

Keep your antivirus up to date

You need to make sure your antivirus is up to date as stated on PC Mag. It will serve as the first line of defense against malware, especially those that specifically target user information.

Antivirus software usually detects all kinds of malware. But as new ones are created every day, your antivirus must also keep up. Antivirus updates come with new fixes for more advanced malware.

Read also: Cybersecurity threats on social networks

Adjust your privacy setting

With newly created social media accounts, all settings are set to default. Most often, its privacy settings are set to show a lot of the user’s information, depending on the social media site or app. This includes information such as birthdays, addresses, contact details, photos, locations, etc. Changing your privacy settings will give you more control over what you want people to see in your account.

As mentioned in yourlifelockpartner.com, customizing your privacy settings will limit what information is displayed in search results. Like on Facebook, users can change their settings so that their posts can only be viewed by specific friends, friends, networks or groups.

Think before posting

You should keep in mind that once something has been posted or shared online, it is difficult, if not impossible, to delete it. Some social media sites keep track and save all your data, even the data you have already deleted.

Moreover, a simple screenshot of other parties would be enough to keep a copy of your data. Once it’s done, you can’t take it back.

Related article: How to secure your social media accounts: Facebook, TikTok, etc.