Social media safety measures not just for individuals and also for business.

 Social media safety measures not just for individuals and also for business.

This is a core check every business or individual have to put into consideration and ensure safety to the best measures.
Not everyone takes security seriously. It's not uncommon for people to create a social media account and never look beyond the default settings. In the same way, they'll buy a mobile device, computer, or some other equipment to access those sites and accept or either assume that it's set up in a way that best protects them.


 Often, the default settings provide the greatest ease of use but are also the least secure. It's never a good idea to trust someone else has your safety in mind, so you should check and configure these settings yourself( Not even your ATM pins as anyone who can get hold of your card and happens to know your pin can make an online transaction with it and you might not get the notification if the person is really brainy).


 There’s no doubt social media has made the world a more connected place. In most cases, that’s a good thing. But all those connections also create unprecedented access to people and business information. And that can be a very bad thing when hackers and scammers get involved.

Giving up social media is not a reasonable option. But neither is it reasonable to carry on as if social networks are always safe and secure. Individuals need to take steps to protect themselves.
Most Individuals really don't know why they are online or what their online business goal is,,,, one might want to ask themselves that question and be true while answering.


Security is a trade-off. The more one lock down a social media account, restrict content from appearing on their profile page, and prevent people from accessing photos and other content, the less chance people will have finding such individual in searches. This not only means people one would rather avoid, but also any old friends and family members one would like to connect with. A decision can make your social media use more secure, but it can cost you functionality and/or ease of use.
What then are the  safety tips one can consider

1)  Abandoned social media accounts
It could be a good idea to reserve business brand’s handle on all social media channels, even if one don’t plan to use them all right away. This allows an individual to maintain a consistent presence across networks, making it easy for people to find you anytime, anywhere.


But it’s important not to ignore the accounts you don’t use yet, those that you’ve stopped using, or those you don’t use often, these are ways to stay secured online

Idle social accounts can be the target of hackers, who could start posting fraudulent messages under your name, to the extent of even scamming your friends and family on your list.

Knowing the account is unmonitored, once they gain control, they could send anything from false information that’s damaging to your business to virus-infected links that cause serious problems for your account and your followers. And you won’t even notice until your customers start coming to you for help, or they trying to reach you on several other means.

2) Reflect on WHY!
Before opening a social media account, ask yourself, what benefits do I need this for. If you can't come up with a four, five SMART objective on this then you or your employees are prone to avaoidable human error.
Everyone makes mistakes right!.  In today’s busy world, it is all too easy for an employee to accidentally expose the company to threats online. Something as simple as clicking on the wrong link or downloading the wrong file could wreak havoc.
If an employee is logged on or has the details of the social media accounts, and such individual phone get stolen without informing the organization then such  business is at a risk of being hacked online.
3) Third-party apps
Even if an individual have their own social accounts on lockdown, hackers may be able to gain access through vulnerabilities in third-party apps that integrate with the big social networks.

Some of us could be familiar with some apps on Facebook especially with the third apps, when you check *how I looks with breads*  *Tell me my character or personality* etc. these are examples of third Person apps.
Their is no seer somewhere who knows us,  they only make use of what we've ever posted online, either our mood, location, friends etc


4) Attacks and scams
Phishing scams use social media to trick people into handing over personal information (like banking details, passwords, or business information).
 With the Advent of cyber fraud, the tricks they use are numerous, one don't want to fall as a victim. As a brand knowing this information ,all official communication should go with a symbol of the brand like a logo, call care representative, letter head etc

5) Privacy settings
People seem to be less aware of the potential privacy risks of using social media.
A simple act like changing the Audience of our post from *public* to *friends only*  can save us alot or even creating a legal contact like we have the option to do such on Facebook.

6) Performing a regular audit
Social media security threats are constantly changing. Hackers are always coming up with new strategies, and new scams and viruses can emerge at any time. Scheduling regular audits of your social media security measures will help keep you ahead of the bad actors.

A platform like *Google My Business* which is an *Analytics tool* can even help with this kind of audit check
Building one's business trust don't just lies in your service delivery or customer service. Building a great and secured online presence matters too.
We don't just go online, we live online

Check our archive and stay tuned for more business tips.


About The Writer
Deborah Adewale is a young energetic Lady who believes strongly in Service to other, she sees human as inter dependent beings,an Environmentalist, SDGs Actor and Environmentalist, She currently studying Public Administration with the aim to change the system for good, one step at a time.

Comments

Popular Posts