3 ways you can protect your social media accounts

Ever wonder what happens when a hacker gets your information and shares more information than you wanted?

Ask Katy Perry.

According to USA Today, she is one of a myriad of celebrities whose social media accounts have been hacked in recent months. And what did the hackers send to her 93 million Twitter followers? Homophobic and racial slurs, while also posting a song she had not yet released.

It can be a nightmare to repair the damage done by hackers and cyber bullies, and securing your social media accounts can help you keep hackers out.

Here are three easy ways to make sure you stay in charge:

1. Be A Password Ninja

Would you make a spare key for your house and leave it hanging on the doorknob? No! Don’t do it with your passwords.

Entrepreneur.com surveys thousands of entrepreneurs and companies each year and revealed 73 percent of online accounts are guarded by duplicate passwords.

If a hacker gets your password and you have a duplicate password, the hacker now has access to any of your online accounts. With the many accounts consumers have today, it can be tricky to remember different passwords for all of them.

Consider making a separate email for all your social media accounts, and at the very least be sure your email password is hard to crack and different from your social media accounts.

Allowing two-factor authentication is another easy way to protect your accounts.

It adds an extra security measure when logging in to accounts on devices that have never accessed your accounts before by requesting a special access number or password sent to a phone or other trusted device.

It may seem like a hassle, but pays off in spades when protecting access to your accounts.

2. Use HTTPS whenever possible

HyperText Transfer Protocol, or that HTTP in front of all your URLs, tells everything how to act and react online. For example, the HTTP in front of website names tells your device to go to that specific site.

Adding an ‘S’ at the end of HTTP basically works like a secret decoder spy pen. Yes, like the ones that come in cereal boxes. It sends things in scrambled code between a server and your device and gives your device the decoder pen to unscramble it. It protects your important information from prying eyes.

It should go without saying, but anytime you put a password or other important information, like credit card numbers, there should always be HTTPS in front of the URL.

Although most social media sites switched to HTTPS by default a few years ago, sometimes apps can switch you back to HTTP. Be leery of any apps or sites within social media networks that don’t want you securely browsing.

Even when using HTTPS, be careful where you are when you are accessing your accounts.

The Federal Trade Commission says public wifi networks, commonly accessed at malls, restaurants and airports, often lack secure connections.

Don’t automatically log into public Wi-Fi, and wait until you are on a private network when possible if you are transferring money or inputting credit card information.

Think about what you post in the first place

While all of your friends undoubtedly want to see that picture of your son, who got himself dressed this morning and forgot pants, think about it. Is it a picture you would like to see posted on any other website?

It can be easy for predators to get access to your pictures, and you have to decide whether you want that picture anywhere else.

Think about your child’s privacy.

Once you post something online, it’s pretty permanent. Do your kids really want those pictures or their embarrassing stories or thoughts posted forever? (Cue up those partying photos from college, rude remarks made in haste, and opinions about things that have changed over time.)

They may not be old enough to tell you no now, but in a few years they may think differently. A little common sense goes a long way — make sure you are protecting your family.

Be careful about posting your personal information, especially information that could help someone hack your password. Many security questions ask information such as maiden names of parents, birthdates, and places of birth. All of these are easily accessible through sites like Facebook, so pick tough password retrieval questions when setting up and editing accounts.

A few other quick tips include being cautious when clicking on links sent by friends, adding or friending people you don’t know well, and interacting with unverified accounts (accounts that have a check mark of other signage telling you it is an official account of a business or person).

If you take a few extra precautions, it’s easy to keep your information safe and keep social media enjoyable for everyone involved.