Nowadays, you can access the majority of necessary services and products effortlessly and via the comfort of your phone or PC thanks to the internet. However, the convenience might come at a cost if you aren’t careful with your online accounts. From social media to financial platforms, some people might want to get unauthorised access to your account for various reasons. Considering that fake ID's can be purchased online , someone can use the details in your account and fake identification documents in a malicious activity that may cause you financial loss or ruined reputation, among other troubles. In as such, you need to keep your online account always protected from hackers. Here are some tips you can use for the purpose:
Does your account’s password include just your name, date of birth, any other personal information, spouse’s name or a common word? In such a case, the account is highly vulnerable to hacking. You need to a strong password. Although it is important to have a strong password that you can easily remember, it should be almost impossible for another person to guess. As a rule of thumb, a strong password has at least eight characters including letters, numbers and symbols.
It is easier and more convenient to have a single password for all your account than creating a unique password for each of your accounts. However, the latter will save you big time from a potential hacking attempt. For instance, if someone manages to know your Facebook password and want to hack into your email account, they’ll most likely use the password to try to gain access to the email account. You’ll be lucky if the email account and Facebook account passwords are different.
It is important to have only those apps and browser extensions that you regularly use/ need and are familiar with them on your internet access device. Besides, you should be certain that the apps/browser extensions on the device are genuine and from trusted sources. Otherwise, keeping unknown or browser extensions on a device with access to your sensitive information puts the information at risk of misuse by hackers.
You need to ensure that computer, that you are using is trustworthy before logging into your account on it. If you don’t trust it, don’t anything that requires you to key in your password. Possibly, the computer has keyloggers which hackers use to record everything that its users type, including passwords. If you must log in to your account on the computer, make sure that you change your password immediately you get to your PC.
The majority of online accounts on different platforms have a login alert feature which sends alerts to a user when their account is logged into from a new device or browser. You can set up this feature to be sending you alerts to your linked email account or mobile phone number or even as a notification on your account on the site, depending on the platform that you are dealing with.
If you receive a login alert and are certain that you didn’t log in from the said device or browser, then that shows that someone hacked your account. To avert possible damage or loss by the hacker, you should change your password immediately.
You shouldn’t leave anything to chance when doing your activities online. Ensure that all your accounts are safe from hacking by implementing these tips.
Create a strong password
Does your account’s password include just your name, date of birth, any other personal information, spouse’s name or a common word? In such a case, the account is highly vulnerable to hacking. You need to a strong password. Although it is important to have a strong password that you can easily remember, it should be almost impossible for another person to guess. As a rule of thumb, a strong password has at least eight characters including letters, numbers and symbols.
Have a unique password for each account
It is easier and more convenient to have a single password for all your account than creating a unique password for each of your accounts. However, the latter will save you big time from a potential hacking attempt. For instance, if someone manages to know your Facebook password and want to hack into your email account, they’ll most likely use the password to try to gain access to the email account. You’ll be lucky if the email account and Facebook account passwords are different.
Avoid unknown app/browser extension installations
It is important to have only those apps and browser extensions that you regularly use/ need and are familiar with them on your internet access device. Besides, you should be certain that the apps/browser extensions on the device are genuine and from trusted sources. Otherwise, keeping unknown or browser extensions on a device with access to your sensitive information puts the information at risk of misuse by hackers.
Exclusively log in on trusted computers
You need to ensure that computer, that you are using is trustworthy before logging into your account on it. If you don’t trust it, don’t anything that requires you to key in your password. Possibly, the computer has keyloggers which hackers use to record everything that its users type, including passwords. If you must log in to your account on the computer, make sure that you change your password immediately you get to your PC.
Set up log in alerts
The majority of online accounts on different platforms have a login alert feature which sends alerts to a user when their account is logged into from a new device or browser. You can set up this feature to be sending you alerts to your linked email account or mobile phone number or even as a notification on your account on the site, depending on the platform that you are dealing with.
If you receive a login alert and are certain that you didn’t log in from the said device or browser, then that shows that someone hacked your account. To avert possible damage or loss by the hacker, you should change your password immediately.
You shouldn’t leave anything to chance when doing your activities online. Ensure that all your accounts are safe from hacking by implementing these tips.
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