Almost everyone in the world has a social media account. Most of us have had one for a decade or more. We use it to talk to friends, share images, stories, and sometimes, our deepest secrets.

Well, what would happen if you woke up to a hacked account? It would be a nightmare turning into a reality because you can lose much more than access to the account. You can lose your reputation and your identity.

The Scary Statistics

The scariest thing about social media is that, on average, 1.4 billion accounts are hacked every month. Since there are 5 billion people in the world with at least one account, there’s a one in five chance you’re next.

Google discovered that at some point, 20% of all social media users will be hacked. That could happen slowly or all at the same time. For example, bad actors succeeded in breaching 30 million Facebook accounts back in 2018. Another claim was made in 2021 when a hacker tried to sell data from 1.5 billion accounts.

Facebook and Instagram are on top of the list when it comes to queries on Google for how to recover a hacked account. That’s completely justified since 85% of Instagram’s and 25% of Facebook’s users had compromised accounts.

And then there’s the infamous LinkedIn breach of 2021, where 750 million people got their usernames, emails, and personal data exposed.

Why Are So Many Social Media Accounts Hacked?

The primary motivation behind every social media account is money. You can buy hacked social media accounts on the dark web for as little as $6. Or, you can use hacked bot armies to increase your followers artificially. For example, a hacked LinkedIn account costs $45, while a hacked Facebook costs $14.

Targeting high-profile individuals also works wonders when making a quick buck. During the crypto craze a few years ago, people like Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama got

hacked to promote a Bitcoin scam. The same thing happened to Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum.

How To Prevent Your Social Media Account From Getting Hacked?

Business owners and business accounts are the biggest targets. Since getting hacked is nearly unavoidable, here are some things to ensure you have a tough account to breach. That might force cybercriminals to move on to someone else.

Use Strong And Unique Passwords

Weak passwords are the biggest cybersecurity vulnerability. It’s obvious, and it’s right in our face. Yet, people keep making the same mistake over and over again. They use their last name, ‘password,’ ‘1234567’, or their dog’s name instead of a secure keyphrase.

Whenever you need to create a password, use symbols, numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and don’t go for a keystroke pattern. Make an original password for every account because you don’t want a hacker to gain access to everything if they crack one. And finally, use a password manager if you don’t want to remember them all.

Ignore Suspicious Links

At least once a day, you’ll see an ad or an annoying link that interests you. It could be the copy or the marketing around the ad, but something is definitely fishy. The page it leads to is suspicious, yet you feel compelled to click and see what the offer is about.

Even though it may seem harmless, a link is a gateway for phishing attacks, malware, and hidden viruses. Turn on your spam blockers or an ad blocker to avoid such situations.

You can also use a premium online VPN that alerts you when you click a malicious link or download a malicious file. A tool like this can help to protect your identity and make it harder for cybercriminals to target you.

Don’t Log In On Different Devices

You should use public devices for public purposes. Whenever it feels unavoidable to log in to your accounts, remember that someone could be watching everything you do. Any hacker can access your account if they install a keylogger on a public device. Don’t do it.

If your job role includes logging in on multiple devices, don’t do it simultaneously at least! Once you are done with working on one device, log out and then sign in from another. 

This will remove all your past data from the past devices and hence, there will be fewer chances of hacking. 

Refrain From Choosing Third-Party Applications

If you make use of a third-party application like a post scheduler on social media, it will ask for your account access. At this time, ensure that access is given only to a few. 

Alongside this, check out the exact details of a particular application before actually providing the access. A few applications ask for minimum permissions, but if they are asking for too many- it might be an alarming sign. 

The best idea is to sign in to all your social networking accounts and check what applications currently have access to your profile. 

Install Software For Antivirus

There are various ISPs that offer some security protection. Furthermore, you can easily compare them to local ISPs and check for better options. Further, you might opt for an antivirus program like AVG or others offering a free version. 

Tools such as Vibbi are best for people who are extra cautious and let you download the images. That’s not all! You can also upload them on Instagram and get a backup of those. 

Parting Words

Today, we have to deal with multiple social media accounts in order to keep up with the technology. And it’s technically not possible to keep track of each. But when it comes to security, we must always be alarmed. 

That’s exactly the theme of this article. I hope this guide was clear in imparting the message of how to keep your accounts secure from hacking. Thank you for reading it till the end. Save it for later use, and comment below your thoughts on this!

Read Also:

• 9 Steps To Protect Your Assets
• 10 Cyber-Enemies And How To Protect Yourself
• Why Everyone Should Know The Basics Of Cybersecurity For Their Device