With social media being a main source of communication and expression, it’s important to take precautions to keep your accounts safe. Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, all social media accounts can be at risk of cyber attacks if users are not careful. Here are some helpful tips for keeping your accounts safe and what to do if your account does get hacked. 

• Review privacy permissions 

When it comes to downloading apps on your phone or computer, make sure you are aware of what you are allowing the app to access. All apps should have a privacy policy that outlines what they can and can’t access, and if they don’t have a policy or it seems invasive, it may not be a good idea to accept as your data and accounts may be at risk of being leaked or stolen. 

• Have a strong, unique password 

When creating a social media account, make sure to use a strong and different password for each account to keep your accounts secure. Along with making sure your passwords are strong, do not share personal information, such as credit card numbers, phone numbers or home addresses. There is an increased risk of being hacked when you share this personal information. It also helps to keep track of all of your accounts, and if you no longer use a social media account consider deleting the account as it will keep you from having an account that can be hacked.

• Do not enable automatic login on your devices 

Although the automatic login feature is great for convenience, it’s unfortunately not so great for account security. If you set up a computer with auto login, anyone who can physically obtain access to the computer or phone can gain access to all the device's contents, including any networks it is connected to. To ensure that you are the only person logging in and out of your accounts, keep the auto login feature off. 

In the case of your social media account being hacked, here are some essential tips on what to do next.  

• Immediately change your password and change all similar login details on other accounts.  
• If any content was posted on your account, make sure to try and delete any harmful or offensive posts.  
• Alert your contacts to be on the lookout for spoofed accounts and let people know to ignore any messages they could have received while your account was hacked.  
• Turn on 2-factor authentication, which is a security system that requires two separate, distinct forms of identification to access something which helps prevent future hacking.  

While it may not seem important to watch over your social media accounts, it is extremely common to be a victim of cyber-attacks. With these tips in mind, you can reduce your chances of attacks and use your accounts to freely browse social media!