No doubt that social media is a great platform to connect with people and have interactions. There are many pluses of using social media these days. However, along with this there are possible threats of using social media. There is a rapid growth in cybercrimes these days due to heavy dependence of people on social media. Sharing personal life on social media is acceptable until you know your limits of using certain applications. The more information you provide about yourself, the easier it gets to attack or steal your identity online. Hence, how you can prevent social media threats and use it safely protecting your personal identity and data is discussed in this article.
- Build strong passwords-
Passwords are the fundamentals of securing your account’s safety on social media. Most number of online frauds takes place by hacking the user’s password. Thus, a strong password is the main barrier keeping most of your social media accounts from being hacked. Every year the internet releases the list of weak passwords and decoding these passwords is like a cake walk. Hence, if you don’ follow the practice of building a strong password according to the norms of social media then you can get in serious troubles.
Thus, make sure that the password you provide on social media consists of number, alphabets and few special characters as decoding these kinds of passwords is comparatively tough. Moreover, make sure that you don’t use a similar password for every social media. It’s understandable that remembering so many passwords is tough but anyways it is for your own security, choosing different passwords for different platforms keeps you on a safer side and you are less likely to lose your identity online. Thus, by following simple rules of creating passwords you can save your account from cybercrime to a large extent.
- Be alert while using social media-
No doubt that there are many perks of using social media but it has a lot of demerits as well. The number of people using social media is huge, while there are people who use social media for productive purposes but there are people who carry out malware practices as well. Thus, along with focusing on getting thousands of views for tikok videos or Instagram posts, also make sure that you know these viewers well. As they look at your activities and observe you closely, they know every inch about your day and how you are spending it, as nowadays people tend to share the maximum of their life on social media. Sharing your life on social media is good but you must set limits to it. Moreover, if you ever feel like being friends with a stranger then ensure that you have gone through their profile well, and if at all they try to misbehave in any way then immediately block and report the account. In this manner you can prevent possible threats of talking to strangers.
- Secure your device-
The next step to ensure online security is securing your device, be it laptop, computer or mobile. Make sure that your device has an antivirus system to protect it from internet threats. Thus, install antivirus on your device and keep your device’s updates up to date. You can use different services to automatically download updates on your device as soon as they arrive. The antivirus on your device will prevent hackers from stealing your data, encryption is provided so that your personal details aren’t released. For this reason, keep your device up to date to protect your data and services on your device.
- Avoid being too personal-
Online websites ask for your personal details to build your online identity. However, providing with each and every personal detail of yours isn’t good as many times people can use such information for mischievous purposes. Hence, be precise regarding what details you are providing on your social media and share details which are relevant and important. Remember the more information you provide your details in depth, the easier it may be for someone to hack your identity, access your data and commit cybercrime.
- Know necessary actions to take-
Harassing and stalking on social media is common these days, and 7 out 10 people have experienced harassing and stalking on social media. So, if the same happens to you make sure that you take necessary measures to prevent it. Block and report the person and write about the issue you were facing. When you give constructive views regarding your social media experience the platforms try to work on their loopholes to ensure safe use of social media. By doing this you can prevent future troubles that you may face while using a social media account.
- Manage your privacy settings-
Every social media provides you with an option to create your own safe place. Various options are given to control your visibility on social media. By learning and using these functions you can restrict strange people from seeing your photos and videos, you can limit your posts access to certain people. These options are given to make sure that you feel safe while using social media and your private life is only visible to those whom you are allowing. Thus, have a check for your privacy setting every time you create a new account on social media. Moreover, refrain from keeping your account public until you are into business or similar professions which ask you to be publicly present. If you are using social media for leisure and post more about personal life then keeping your account private is good.
Conclusion
Social media is not all true and sometimes what you see doesn’t exist in the real world. This means that there are people who fake their identity with an intention to enter into another person’s personal space. While this can be done for several reasons, it can be for stealing data, identity, harassing or stalking. And the negative part about using social media is you are always surrounded by these possible threats. Hence it is highly essential to use social media cautiously. Thus, make sure that you use social media with highest-safety, set limits and maintain boundaries while using social media. In this way you can protect your account from malpractices.
