How is your identity threatened on social media?
In December, the passwords for nearly 2 million Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites have been stolen and published online by hackers. And earlier in 2013, 4.7 million LinkedIn passwords were published in eight binders by a German artist. These white passwords binders are now shared with thousands of foreign as they are displayed in museums across Europe. Fortunately, these eight binders contain only passwords and not corresponding usernames, so it will be almost impossible for an identity thieve use them to hack an account, but it could still be a good idea to change your LinkedIn password.
As if these two isolated events are not sufficient proof that you need to take steps to protect your identity on social media, 2014 Threat Predictions McAfee report says that attacks on social media will be seen much more often in 2014. the report says that much "pony attacks," similar to 2 million hacking indicated above, will perform as well as "false flag attacks" that confuse or trick a user into revealing connection or personal information to hackers will occur. According to McAfee, the hacked information will then be used to collect personal information about the user and their contacts.
What can you do to protect your identity on social media?
There are some steps you can take to ensure the security of your personal information on social media. Some steps are easier to follow than others, but if you take additional measures detailed below, so make sure your social media identity remains safe.
1. Do not overshare: It is amusing to post updates about your life in your social media account, but it is essential to remember not to overshare. In other words, by oversharing you could unwittingly provide identity thieves tips for your passwords or private information simply by publishing personal information or events of life too. Instead, choose not to include all the details of an event or share with friends specific social media, such as your immediate family only.
2. Use strict privacy settings and check them regularly: It is essential to ensure the confidentiality of your profile, timeline, tweets or whatever media you use is set to "friends only", "limited" or "protected" - the specific privacy setting varies depending on the social media site. When selecting a parameter, make sure that your messages, photos and page are visible to your friends or followers and they are blocked by foreigners, and the public. Once you set the privacy settings, be sure to check at least once a month, because often social media sites will add new or update previous privacy settings that can reset or spoil that you previously set. Here are some tips on how to control your Facebook privacy settings.
3. Set a password: Your password must contain some variation of at least six uppercase and lowercase letters, a number and a special character for that it can be regarded as a password. For security reasons it should not include your name or date of birth. Also, remember that the more password protected more you keep your account. If you need help choosing a strong password, here are some tips for choosing a password.
4. Disconnect each social media session: When you log in to your social media account from different devices, you start a new session, and forget to log out once you have finished using the site can cause potential threat of identity because you put your information at risk of piracy if your device is stolen or your computer has a virus. Whether you're using a tablet, computer or phone, this is a step you should take after each visit on the social media site or application.
5. Be skeptical and aware: Finally, the best thing you can do to protect your identity on social media is to be aware of your business on it. Do not be afraid to refuse a friend request from someone you do not know or ignore a phishing message, because at the end of the day, it is your identity is at risk to take those extra precautions help protect you when you are using social media.