Secure Your Social Networking Profile

Almost everyone these days has some kind of social networking site that they visit regularly to keep in touch with friends and family, or to promote their business. These sites can also be an easy target for hackers to break into. In this article I will show you one simple way that hackers can get into your social networking profile and also show you how to make yours more secure.

Everyone tells you to have a secure password with letters, numbers, and symbols right? And to change your password every year or so? While these are always good practices, it doesn’t always save you from being hacked.

Step 1: Don’t post your email address

If you need to post your email address in your social networking site, don’t post the one that you use as your login for the site.

Your email address is the base of your profile. It’s your login name, it’s where all your notifications are sent, emails are sent there from people writing to you on the site, and most importantly it is where your password is sent in the case when you forget.

Step 2: Use a secure email service

Again, since your email address is the base of your social networking profile, you want to make sure that it is secure.

The reason is if someone happens to get a hold of your login email address and the place where all your information is sent to, then they can work their magic to break into your email and lock you out.

Below is a screenshot of how this can be done in a Hotmail account.

The way a hacker can get to this screen is by clicking the “Forgot your password?” button under Hotmail’s login box. Gmail also has this option, but they are tighter on their security. ArrowQuick’s business-class email is probably the best one I could find that doesn’t give this option. The only way to get into it if you forget your password is by contacting your system administrator.

Step 3: Create a smart secret question and secret answer

Do not use a secret question that is very common, or a secret answer that anyone can guess.

If you are going to use Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail or any free email hosting service, make sure that you create a smart secret answer that not everyone can guess. An example of a bad secret question: “Grandfather’s occupation?” If your grandfather was a farmer I would not use this question. Farmer is probably the easiest one to crack. An example of a smarter question is “Favorite Historical Person?” It is a little tougher for a hacker to figure out.

If you think that you have been hacked, there are some quick ways to secure things again. First, change the email address that you use to log into your social networking profile. Second, change your password to the social networking site. Then, go to your email service and change your password and secret question, or contact your system administrator and have them change the password.

If you remember these three steps, you will be ready for almost any hacker that tries to break into your account. I hope this article keeps you more secure in your social networking life.