Our 8 top tips for securing your business social media accounts.

We hear a lot about how cybercriminals target businesses through email and use tactics such as ransomware and malware to cause disruption, but did you know that social media accounts may be under threat too?

Many businesses now invest time into getting to know their customers over social media and posting content that provides value and adds to their brand.

This means a social media profile of a business is a valuable asset as its followers are more likely to trust any content posted.

This trust know is known as social proof and something cybercriminals look to exploit.

Follow our 8 TOP tips for securing your business social accounts to stay safe online.

Do make changing your password part of your routine

Make password more complex. making your password alphanumeric increases strength as does add symbols. Avoid using names that others who know information about you might easily be able to guess. Avoid password overload by using a password manager.

A password change is also a great response if you ever get an email saying an attempt was blocked to access your account

Do take advantage of inbuilt security options

If there is an opportunity to use security questions then take it. These are options available to users of the most high profile platforms.

Also, take advantage of the value of two-factor identification. It can be irritating to have to add in an extra code as well as your password but Two Factor authentication will often prove its value when an attempt is made to breach your account. Most social media accounts allow for Two Factor authentication is also a great way to protect accounts if you are infected with malware.

Periodically check who has access to your company profiles

During events, it can be easy to grow the number of employees who are given page roles on accounts such as Facebook. If these were intended to be temporary, or if a staff member who has=d access has now left then this access should be revoked. It should be routine to streamline those who have access to your social media.

Do check the permissions on your apps

Your social media accounts can easily expose you to apps that you may have given access to while browsing, especially when engaging in producing just for fun content. Some malicious apps may be able to access data from other social media apps. Delete and revoke access to anything you do not use anymore and do not remember downloading. 

Be careful when interacting with followers

There are people on social media who pose as whoever they think the account holder is most likely to trust in a way to exploit money and data. Check the accounts of those who you interact with and trust your instinct if you see anything suspicious like a new profile suddenly connecting with lots of people but not posting any updates.

Avoid the temptation of the auto login feature

if your device gets into the wrong hands then they will be granted access to all of your accounts exposing a lot of sensitive and company data.

Don’t take security for granted

Those working in Larger companies with IT teams may wrongly assume that it the job of the IT department to handle trivial company social media security issues when it is in actual fact everyone's responsibility to take basic measures to protect the accounts. 

Meanwhile, those working in smaller companies may wrongly assume no hacker is going to take notice on them as they are too small to be significant.

Don’t leave old accounts unmonitored

It’s good practice to have social media accounts on all popular channels, that way your potential customers can easily find at the very least your contact details on the platform they enjoy using the most. These placeholder accounts, however, can be abused with cybercriminals routinely using them to post content leading to malicious sites.

Do you have any concerns with the security of your business accounts or data? Get in touch with us today and we will arrange for a free audit of your companies current practices.

Call 01482 420 150