Social Media Security – 5 Security Tips | Norton

Social media lets us connect with the world, but it comes with risks of social media scams. Social media security is important to keep your personal information and accounts safe from the wrong hands. Your own accounts might seem too small to tempt scammers, but even with just a few followers, your information is a valuable commodity.

Read on for social media security tips to stay safe on social networks. 

1. Unique passwords can help enhance security

Social media security can be as easy an creating different passwords for each channel. Using the same password for Twitter and Facebook makes it easy for hackers to gain access to multiple accounts and more personal information. When you use one password for multiple services, you’re only as safe as the least secure channel you use. 

2. Be skeptical of messages

Another social media security tip is to watch your direct messages and practice caution before opening anything, even from profiles you recognize. Phishers will find out who you would expect to receive an email from and use that as a way in. This social engineering approach has worked on staff at major newspapers and government organizations, so don’t be fooled hacking social network accounts must require more sophisticated techniques. 

3. Keep your personal information secure

Social engineering is where attackers use whatever information they can glean from your public profiles – date of birth, education, interests – to try to get into your accounts on all sorts of services. Imagine how easily someone can find out the name of your first pet or school from your Facebook profile, then think about how many services use them as security questions. Keep as much of your profile private as you can, and think twice before posting absolutely every aspect of your life. 

4. Secure your phone

It’s not only faceless scammers on the internet who can scam you into getting access to your accounts. Your phone can end up in the hands of a stranger, opening your social media security risks (and more). They can obtain your email address, target your friends using your profile as bait, and even change your password. Always enable the passcode lock on your phone, and set it to time out at no more than a few minutes. 

5. Report scammers and spammers

When a spammer follows you and sends you links, don’t just ignore it. Always report the account as spam to protect future victims. The social networking service will monitor it and, if enough people take the same action, remove the account. It won’t stop spammers coming back with new accounts, but it at least hinders their efforts. 

Social Media Monitoring

One more tool to add to your social media security toolkit: Social Media Monitoring is now included in LifeLock Ultimate Plus and Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus.