Social Networking Safety Tips for Online Users to Stay Safe on the Internet

Social media needs no introduction and almost everyone of us is present on one or the other social media platforms. For some, it’s a way to make friends and for others it is a business advertisement platform. But besides the good, there’s some bad that happens to you when you go social on the web. Well, social networking platforms are a golden opportunity for hackers to steal your sensitive information and use it for their malicious benefits.

Every time you write a status update on your Facebook profile, you share it with your friends and several other marketers and groups. This information can be misused by the receiving end and could lead to serious consequences like losing financial assets. Here are some effective measures to keep yourself safe on social media:

Information sharing – Do Not Share Too Much!

Sharing too much information on social media can lead to attacks like identity theft. Highly private and sensitive details like your date of birth, address of residence, credit card number, ATM card PIN, etc. must not be shared with others over social media platforms.

Check You Social Media Privacy Settings

Your privacy settings on social media accounts should be customized. Check whether the posts you write on your profile including photos, check-ins, etc. are visible to your friends only. 

Stay Away from Fake Social Sites

When trying to open a social networking website, it is important to look for genuine URLs. The best way is to type the URL directly on your browser’s address bar. This is because opening a social media website from an email link or another website could make you enter your credentials on a fake page.

Social Media Identity Theft

It is not always true that messages that you receive from your friends on a social media platform are actually sent by them. Hackers can easily take over anyone’s account and use it for spamming and other malicious activities. So, if a message appears to be fake or fraudulent, it is important to check with your friend over a call or some other medium.

Keep Your Social Media Account Safe

Avoid letting a social media network scan your email address book as it can view email addresses of all your contacts. This is because social networks use this information to send messages for their business promotion.

Beware when using Public Networks

Hackers can take over your social media profiles or steal sensitive information when you are social networking on an open source. So make sure you sign out properly when done with the social networking session.

Carefully Meet People Online

Beware of fake profiles. Do not accept every request that you receive. Make sure to check a few things like name, profile picture, recent posts and mutual friends to confirm if it is someone you really know or just a hacker behind a known name.

Avoid Third Party Apps

Installing third party applications on your social media page such as games can sometimes prove dangerous. This is because these third-party apps can be used by hackers to steal your sensitive information.

Avoid Participating in Surveys 

These days social networks are bombarding users with surveys that ask them to fill some personal information in the form of questions and answers. Once the user fills out the survey, he is presented with some sort of fascinating result such as qualities, best friends, etc. However, these type of surveys are most of the time scams that collect user information and use it at their advantage.

Install an Internet Security Software

Having a good antivirus program installed on your computer system and mobile act as a safety guard that protects your from content that contains malware. An anti-spam software can filter spam emails from fake social networks.

Use Strong Passwords

Security is not just important for your computer and mobile, but also the content you browse on these devices. Social media account needs to be protected  with strong passwords. This helps in preventing hacking of your social media account by cyber attackers and posting inappropriate content through your profile. While creating a password, remember to use a minimum of eight characters which shall be a combination of both numbers and characters.

Use Parental Control to Monitor Online Activities

In case your child is using a social networking site, then it is important for you to use a parental control software and make sure if he/she is using it the right way.

For more tips on online safety, here is a blog post that you must read – Browse in a Private Environment Securely-Safe Browsing.

Note- This blog post has been updated.