Social media has become part of our daily lives and has its good, bad and ugly sides. Identity theft, a major social media pitfall had over 15 million victims in 2016. We need to be aware of the dangers it poses to protect ourselves.
10 Tips to Help You Stay Safe on Social Media in 2018
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1. Use Strong Passwords
Choose hard to guess password, avoid one that can be derived from your name or date of birth. Use a mix of alphanumeric (numbers & letters) and special characters. Also, avoid using a common password for social media accounts, personal bank accounts and shopping accounts.
2. Do Not Store Your Payment Information Online
Under no circumstance should you have your payment information such as bank account details, credit card details saved on any social media platform.
3. Stay Away from Strangers
Accepting friend request from people you do not know is one easy way through which hackers can extract your account details. Delete or mark such request as spam whenever you get them.
4. Do not share Personal Details
Avoid sharing sensitive information about yourself over social media. Some websites may ask you to provide a lot of personal information like address, cell number etc. Better to avoid filling it out.
5. Turn ON Incognito mode
While surfing, turn on incognito mode on your browser as it does not save your browsing history or cookies. This little easy step protects your data from been stolen.
6. Avoid downloading files of unknown origin
The risk of virus infection increases whenever you download files from the internet. Some files shared between friends and on social media groups may contain malwares and worms whose goal is to extract your personal information.
7. Anti Virus Update
Ensure your anti virus software is up to date. This protects you from the latest viruses or malwares that may steal your personal data.
8. Monitor your kids online activity
Install parental control software to check on your kids activities on the internet. Never forget that kids are always innocent and never know what should be shared or not. So, keep an eye on their activities.
9. Location Settings a Great Threat
Social media at all level ask you to turn on your location setting but be wise enough to turn off this requirement and safeguard your privacy. This can be an invitation to burglars while you are away from home.
10. Log out after Using Account
Last but not the least, it is equally important to log out of your social media account once you have used it. A continuous logged in account is an open invitation to theft and cybercrime.
References
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-identity-theft-and-cybercrime
http://gulfnews.com/guides/tech/11-basic-steps-to-social-media-and-online-safety-1.1575803
