Last week, the media buzzed with reports saying Twitter accounts of westerners were hacked with Swastikas and messages supporting Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan. What’s more interesting in this breach genre was that the hack took place not only on high profile accounts but also on the accounts used by ordinary folk.
Social media expert Lilach Bullock has spilled her knowledge on how to prevent twitter accounts from being hacked and her words are as follows-
Use unique passwords- In order to keep your twitter account safe, users should start using a 10 character password which must include symbols, numbers, and lower and upper case letters. Mrs. Bullock adds that it is very important not to use these passwords on any other web related services.
Two-step verification- Mrs. Bullock feels that use of strong passwords is just not sufficient these days and suggested that users must & should opt for a two-step verification. The user just needs to click on the “settings” tab and then under “security” select the ‘login verification’ feature. This will help them get a login code, whenever they choose to login with their respective usernames.
Using a password tool- Nowadays, the web is filled with a lot of tools which help users encrypt and protect all their passwords. The service offered by these tools slightly differs with the operating system. But eventually, the functioning of it is one and the same.
Keep your phone to yourself- As a smartphone acts as a single access platform to social networks, mailboxes and other critical info like mobile wallets, it should be well protected with a secure locking screen and a malware scanning software. Mrs. Bullock recommends changing the social media as well as the email passwords on a regular note. As this helps in protecting your personal info even when your phone gets lost or stolen.
Keep a tab on the apps- Apps developed by hackers are usually interconnected. And this makes hackers get into one system by breaching another. As a lot of tools and apps allow you to log in by authenticating your twitter account, you need to be very cautious while using the apps. To prevent any kind of fraudulent activities, twitter users should closely keep a tab on the permissions given to the apps. This helps in reducing the chance of dodgy accounts getting access to your account and helps in keeping malicious software like ransomware at bay.
