How to stay safe on social media? | Computing Australia

8 TIPS ON HOW TO STAY SAFE ON
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

How to stay safe on social media? | Computing Australia

8 TIPS ON HOW TO STAY SAFE ON
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

8 Tips on How to Stay Safe on Social Media Networks

Social media networks have evolved from just being a platform for connecting with people to a hot platform for doing business. As social platforms become popular, they became one of the common targets of cybercrimes. So, how can we protect ourselves from these dangers? Our cybersecurity experts from Perth will give 8 tips on how to stay safe on social media.

1. Manage Privacy Settings

Most of us ignore the privacy settings on our social networks, believing the default setting is secure. Chances are that your privacy settings have loopholes that allow hackers or other scammers to access your information and view your posts. Adjusting the privacy settings will allow you to restrict strangers from viewing and accessing your information.  

Facebook: It would be best to restrict your Facebook posts visibility to friends or friends of friends. That way, hackers or scammers can’t see your photos and information.

Instagram: If your account is for a personal purpose, then it’s best to make it private so that only your followers have access to your posts and images.

Twitter: If your account is private, it’s ideal to activate the Protect your tweets toggle button, which will restrict your tweet’s visibility to only followers. Go to privacy and settings control and uncheck the Discoverability checkboxes to protect your email and phone number from hackers. 

2. Avoid Quizzes and Games that Ask for Profile Information

Most of us have come across quizzes and games that ask for permission to access our friend list or profile information to predict our soul mate or our best friend. Avoid these kinds of games because they can be information-siphoning schemes by hackers. They can use your sensitive information for scamming or other malicious actions.

3. Limit Details you Share

So, it is best to restrict personal information shared on social media like date of birth, workplace, future events etc. You can prevent many dangers like identity theft, bank account cracking and other fraudulent acts by this.

4. Once Online Means Always Online

If you post anything on the internet, it’s going to stay there forever. Any information you post on your story or feeds can be gathered by others using screen recording or other means, making it impossible for you to erase it. Hence, it’s always wise to think twice before uploading your posts online since these data can be used against you or used to scam others using your identity.  

5. Block Suspicious Followers

Most social media platforms have features that allow you to block or report suspicious accounts. If you find suspicious or unfriendly followers or duplicate accounts, it’s best to block them. This will restrict the blocked user from contacting you, and they can’t view the posts and feeds you share in your account. 

6. Strong Passwords

Strong Passwords - The CAG

7. Avoid Duplicate Friend Requests

Verify the identity of the people who send a request to connect with you and also avoid the friend requests you feel like duplicates. Scammers can create fake accounts to trick you into believing you know the person. Since it’s easy to achieve photos and details from these platforms, the risks of being scammed also increases. It’s always to limit your friend list to accounts that you have verified to be genuine.

8. Activate two-factor authenticator

Jargon Buster

Password Manager – A software used to create, store and manage passwords in an encryption form.
Phishing – A social engineering attack intended to steal private information such as login credentials, credit card details or passwords.

Chris Karapetcoff | Blog author | Computing Australia

Chris Karapetcoff

Chris is the Business Manager of The Computing Australia Group, he is responsible for the management of the entire Computing Australia Group team. He enjoys the fact that it is a busy portfolio and no two days are ever the same. His day is a mix of working with the various members of our team and interacting with clients. Having worked with The Computing Australia Group for over 16 years, Chris knows our products and what it takes to put together a reliable business solution that you can depend on.

Chris Karapetcoff | Blog author | Computing Australia

Chris Karapetcoff

Chris is the Business Manager of The Computing Australia Group, he is responsible for the management of the entire Computing Australia Group team. He enjoys the fact that it is a busy portfolio and no two days are ever the same. His day is a mix of working with the various members of our team and interacting with clients. Having worked with The Computing Australia Group for over 16 years, Chris knows our products and what it takes to put together a reliable business solution that you can depend on.