Influencers like you can reach more people around the world thanks to the internet. This opportunity, however, also poses a significant risk in your personal life.
You can be a victim of sexual harassment, cyberbullying, or identity theft if you’re not careful. Many people take advantage of online anonymity to commit cybercrimes.
But don’t worry. You can take steps to prevent this from happening so you can focus on the good side of social media.
Most of your personal details should be kept private. You should never post the following online:
Scammers can use your information and email or call you to pretend that they are someone you can trust. For example, a person working at the bank or your parent’s friend.
Most of them are professional con artists, and they can really make you believe that they are legit. It’s hard to recognize them. After you fall from their tricks, they’ll ask for more confidential details like passwords, CVC, etc.
The best thing you can do is to be out of their reach.
This is connected with #1. Some events or situations in your life are better kept private. Especially if it involves some other people. Remember to have a privacy-first mindset.
Before posting anything, ask yourself these questions:
For example, your parents gave you an immense amount of cash. You might think that posting it is a good idea, but you’re wrong. This can put your family’s life in danger.
Another good example is posting your itinerary for your upcoming trip. This might seem harmless, but online predators can use this to commit a crime.
On a less dangerous note, your lengthy rant on Facebook about the company, your boss, or your client may affect your future career.
Make sure that your head is clear and that you’ve answered the questions above before you post anything.
To refrain apps from posting or identifying where you are, turn off location access.
Most social media apps allow this one, and you can find it on their settings. You can also do it on your phone by clicking “Settings” and going to the Privacy (for iOs) or Location tab (for Android).
Activity status shows your friends or followers whether you’re online or offline. To enjoy a private time of scrolling your feed, you may disable this, so you don’t need to worry about answering anyone’s message immediately.
Using one password and email address on all your accounts may be convenient. However, it makes them vulnerable to hackers. Once they get that two pieces of info, they can manipulate everything.
Whereas, if you create separate emails, you can avoid that scenario.
This might be a hassle on your side, but there are apps that you can use to safely save your emails and passwords. LastPass is a great example.
EXTRA TIP: Choose a strong password. To create one, combine letters (small and capital), numbers, and special symbols. The longer your password is, the better.
Some phishing scams use links to trick you and get your username and password. These are more common in emails.
Some attackers send spam messages that include genuine-like content. They even copy how the website looks, so most people are convinced.
If you receive a message asking you to verify something, always check the sender’s email address. The URL of the website is also different from the original site, so you’ll know that it’s fake.
If you have any suspicion, directly contact the company and ensure if the message is authorized.
A cybersecurity expert recommended that we should change our password at least every 90 days. Do you think you can do that?
While this is a good practice, not all people have the energy to change their passwords four times a year. This will be a nightmare for you if you combine this with tip #4.
In that case, you can opt for two-factor authentication. This system only allows you access to the app if you pass two different identification methods. An example is a password plus fingerprint or password plus OTP (one-time-password).
Some apps let you set this, but you can also download software like Google Authentication.
Virtual Private Network, aka VPN, is a great way to protect yourself from hackers, especially when using public WiFi. With VPN, you can hide your actual location.
Although there is free VPN software, I still recommend you get a paid one. Why? Because some free ones track and sell your data to third-party apps. This is something you don’t want to happen.
You may check NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
Other than VPN, you should also consider using better-messaging apps that have end-to-end encryption. Something that most social media platforms don’t have.
This will ensure that your information isn’t leaked to any third-party sites and is strictly confidential to you and the receiver. Some examples are Telegram, Wire, and Signal Private Messenger.
This is something you can do to prevent yourself from being a victim of hackers, scammers, or creepy people. You don’t have to experience it firsthand before you learn what to do.
Many top social media influencers have experienced cybercrimes, and if you know some people, you can ask for advice or tips to avoid them.
If you don’t, do your own research. There are so many articles that you can learn from.
Before I end this post, I want to share this bible verse relevant to our topic today:
“Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you.”Proverbs 2:11
Your privacy matters, and it’s crucial to learn different ways to protect that. Apply the “prevention is better than cure” conventional saying, and save yourself from stress, tears, and trauma.
Do you want to add anything to the list above? Let me know in the comment section.
Johnson, D. (2020, June 26). How often you should change your passwords, according to cybersecurity experts. Business Insider. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-often-should-i-change-my-password.
Rafter, D. (n.d.). Are free vpns safe? 7 things to know before using free vpns. Are Free VPNs Safe? 7 Things to Know Before Using Free VPNs | NortonLifeLock. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-are-free-vpns-safe.html
What Do Email Phishing Scams Do? Best Practices for Protecting Your Information. Webroot. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/computer-security-threats-phishing.
