HACKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA: HOW THEY DO IT, HOW TO AVOID IT, & WHAT TO DO IF IT HAPPENS TO YOU

BY HEIDI MCIVOR ALLEN

Malicious hacking has become incredibly common. There are around 2,200 cyber-attacks every day, that could equate to more than 800,000 attacks per year. 58% of adults are worried about being a victim of cybercrime. 63% of consumers are worried someone will steal their identity, and 78% of consumers are concerned about data privacy. We want to help ease some of these fears by helping you avoid cyber-attacks and providing you with the steps to take to get your accounts back if you are hacked.

“When you change one thing, you have the ability to change EVERYTHING.”

HOW DO HACKERS GAIN ACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS?

Social media is the perfect outlet for hackers to gain access to your accounts and other personal information. Be careful about what you’re oversharing online because the more you share, the larger target you’ve put on your back. Hackers will use the information they’ve learned about you on your social media pages or Google and orchestrate the perfect scam to trick you personally. Cybercriminals exploit the personal details we share online to try to trick or impersonate us. These scams are designed to entice people to download malware, send money, share more personal information, or disclose log-in details. A report from a security company Tessian, which helps prevent people from falling for scams. The report found that 84% of people post on social media every week, with two-fifths (42%) posting every day. More than half (55%) of the people Tessian surveyed have public Facebook profiles, while 67% have public Instagram accounts. You don’t think about it in the moment, but some photos you share might include the name of your kids or pet names in the background without you realizing it. These details can help a hacker guess your password or answer common security questions. Hackers also know that people reuse passwords more often than not, allowing them to hack into your other accounts.

Here are some of the top ways hackers can gain access to your social media accounts:

PHISHING SCAMS

A phishing scam is when a hacker tries to trick you into giving them your login information by sending you an email message that looks like it’s from social media site asking you to confirm your login credentials. They create a fake login page that looks incredibly believable. Once they have your username and password, they have login access to your account and do whatever they want.

MALICIOUS APPS

If you give personal information to a malicious app the hackers can access your social media account if you give the app permissions.

WEAK PASSWORDS

If you use a weak password or don’t update your password frequently, it’s much easier for a hacker to guess your password and gain access to your account. Make sure you’re always using a strong password that includes a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.

PUBLIC WI-FI

If you login to your social media accounts on a public Wi-Fi network, it’s possible for a hacker to intercept the data and login to your accounts.

CLICKING ON LINKS

Be careful about clicking on links that show up in your email, or that is sent to you in messages. Even if it’s someone you know, or they look like a trusted source. They could be a hacker pretending to be them, trying to hack your account through their account. Hackers create fake links that lead to malicious websites.

BROWSER EXTENSIONS

Some browser extensions can collect data from your social media account or even post on your behalf without you knowing it. Only install extensions from trusted sources and be careful about giving them to much access to your account.

WHAT CAN HAPPEN IF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT IS HACKED

Change your password so that you can no longer login or delete your account entirely.
Use your account to gain access to other accounts that are linked to it, such as your email account.
Steal your personal information.
Use your account to trick other accounts into clicking on links or downloading malicious apps, etc.
Use your account to spread spam or malware.
Post offensive or embarrassing content on your behalf.
Send messages from your account without your knowledge
Delete important data files.

HOW TO AVOID HAVING YOUR ACCOUNTS HACKED

Set your social account profiles to private. If you are unsure if they are or not you can Google your name and accounts and find out. You can also use Google to your advantage to double-check that you really know all your followers.

Avoid passwords that have anything to do with what you share online. Since 85% of people reuse passwords, make sure you aren’t one of them. It might be a little complicated to remember a bunch of different passwords, but you can get password managers that will do the heavy remembering for you. It will be well worth the extra work to avoid your accounts from being hacked.
Play the defensive if a message feels off, do some research before sending them any information or clicking on any links. If you’re still unsure after research, get a second opinion from an expert IT team. Security is crucial.

Set up two-factor authentication. This means if someone tries to login to your account, you will get a text or email confirming that it’s you who tried to login to your account. If it is you logging in from a new device, great. But if it is not you, then you know someone was trying to hack your account and you can put an immediate stop to it.

RECOGNIZE RED FLAGS OF A HACKED SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT

Here are some warning signs to keep an eye out for, to avoid interacting with an account that has been hacked:

You notice strange posts or messages on your account that you didn’t write.
You get a notification that your account password has been changed and you can no longer log in to your account.
Receiving strange messages or friend requests from people you don’t know.
You notice your profile picture has been changed without your knowledge.
You start getting spam messages or comments on your posts.
You get an error message when you try to log in, even though you’re using the correct password.
Your friends tell you that they have been receiving strange messages from your account.

IMMEDIATE STEPS TO TAKE IF YOUR ACCOUNT IS HACKED

If you suspect that your account has been hacked, you want to act as quickly as possible to stop them from doing more damage through your account. Here are some immediate actions you can take:

If you have the capability, change your password ASAP and make sure it is a strong, unique password that you’ve never used before.
Enable multi-factor authentication if you haven’t done so already and you are given the option. This is the extra layer of security every account needs.
Submit a ticket report to the social media platform – with Instagram, request that they provide you with the Face Identification feature so you can authentically prove it’s you.
Review your account settings and change them back to what you had them as if necessary.
Check if your profile picture has been changed and change it back if it has.
Double check that no messages or posts were sent that you were unaware of and delete them if they have.
Unfriend or block any suspicious users who have sent you messages or friend requests recently.
If you’re still having trouble logging into your account, contact customer support. They should get back with you between 3-7 business days.
Be incredibly careful with your personal information and make sure the sites are verified and legitimate before typing in any personal or banking information.
Change your passwords on other online accounts, especially if you use the same password for multiple platforms.

HOW MCIVOR MARKETING CAN HELP YOU WITH HACKED ACCOUNTS

We have been through this process through firsthand experience. One of our team members had her Instagram account hacked and did not have two-factor authentication set up. Within seconds they changed her password, changed the email associated with the account and then enabled two-factor authentication making it what seemed like impossible to get her account back. A quick trick for Instagram is that if you’re having an issue, shake your phone while the app is open and it will let you report a problem to customer support immediately. Due to her account being associated with business accounts Instagram was very fast acting with this process of getting her account back. She went into another account she had and was able to screenshot the messages and the account that had sent her a malware link. They also provided her with the Face ID feature which allowed her to quickly prove that it was in fact her trying to regain access to the account. This is a new feature that Instagram has embedded into the software due to so many accounts being hacked. Hackers are everywhere these days and always looking for new targets. Make sure you aren’t one of them by taking the safety and security measures that we have provided in this blog.

What Business Services Does McIvor Marketing Offer?

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Not ready to dive into hiring a full-time marketing director? Maybe you’re just curious about how your marketing is performing. We can help you set up trackable ways to measure your marketing ROI with a project-based digital audit to gauge current performance. We can also help you get your social media advertising portals set up. We also offer training on Google Analytics, Facebook Business Manager, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Canva, as well as how to plan content and brainstorm ideas to help you grow through research.

Check out our full list of services and reach out with any questions.

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