As of January 2024, 62% of the world’s population are social media users. Statistically, social media users have accounts or access six different social media platforms, making the approximate number of available social media accounts to hackers around 30 billion. There is a lot of information out there that can be used by cybercriminals if you haven’t taken the steps to protect yourself.
The Problem…
When someone takes over your social media account, you might not be able to get your account back with this ‘hacker’ then using your account to scam other people. This hacker will have access to your personal details, your photos, your private messages, and may even be able to make payments. Social media account hacking happens more often than you think, and once someone has gotten into your social media account, they will change the telephone numbers and email addresses to make it difficult or impossible for you to take back control.
The Risk…
Even social media accounts with no access to sensitive data are valuable to hackers as they can provide access to personal information, which can be used for identity theft and fraud. Furthermore, it may take time to inform people that your account has been hacked. Allowing the cybercriminal to damage your reputation by impersonating you.
Compromised social media accounts may display unexpected updates, and users should look for unusual activity on their accounts. Moreover, using the same password for multiple accounts can put all of a user's accounts at risk of compromise, not just their social media accounts.
The Reality…
Unfortunately, if your social media account has been compromised, it is highly unlikely that you will ever get that account back. The police and government will all struggle to get your account back; there is no magic switch to activate. You can try and report the breach to the social media provider (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), but these large organisations often do not have the time or processes to help victims of account compromise.
Believe us, we find this frustrating too, but there really isn’t anything we can do to help you. If the account is compromised, you will struggle to get it back. It is therefore important that you take the necessary steps to avoid having your account taken over in the first place.
The Solution…
To prevent yourself from having your Facebook account compromised, we recommend you take the following steps:
- Adjust your privacy settings so your account can only be found by people that you actually know and have already contacted.
- Remove any unnecessary information from your Facebook accounts, like full dates of birth, phone numbers, extra email addresses, or usernames for other services.
- Be careful with what you post. Even simple things like posting a picture of your pet with their name can be a way for attackers to get information that could be used in your passwords.
- Use different passwords for different accounts, and update them regularly. We recommend using a password comprised of 3 unique but memorable words (E.g. SalmonPineappleCrab). We also recommend storing all of your different passwords in a reputable password manager application.
- Enable multifactor authentication (or 2FA) on your accounts so you are asked to clarify that you have made a password reset request, or logged into a different device. This can be set up for email or SMS notifications.
- Check your login activity for anything suspicious or any records that you do not recognise. Any logins that are not yours should alert you to a sort of account compromise.
- Do not post pictures of your IDs, like your passport or driver’s licence, so this information cannot be used by attackers to steal your identity or be used for advertising fake services.
- Do not accept friend requests from people you do not personally know in real life, or click any links sent to you by unknown people, or from those you know but were not expecting.
- Do not click links sent to you through social media that you cannot trust. This applies to links sent via email that ask you to enter details related to your social media accounts.