Hackers
have increased their rampage these days and are causing people many worries.
But you can be safe by following these tips.
One normally starts thinking about security only when it gets compromised. But the services you normally use put in a lot of effort to keep you and your data secure. Here’s a quick rundown of the steps you need to follow to secure your online presence.
1. Facebook
Facebook
also offers login verification and alerts but there are a bunch of additional
options — for instance, you can set trusted contacts (who can help you get
access to your account if you get locked out) and you can see which browsers
and apps you’re signed in from.
One very
useful feature you’ll find in the Security Settings page is ‘where you’ve
logged in’. Let’s say you went to a friend’s place and logged in to Facebook on
hisher computer, but forgot to log out when you left.
You can use
this option to sign out from any devices — just click the link that says ‘End
Activity’. If you head to the help page, Facebook also offers a handy
wizard-style Security Checkup that will show you old logins, let you sign out
with one click, review your alerts and give you password tips.
2. Whatsapp
WhatsApp
already uses end-to-end encryption to secure your chats — no one, not even
WhatsApp staff members can read your chats if encryption is on (which it is by
default). But a common scenario is losing your phone. Before you realise the
loss, a thief will have full access to your WhatsApp account which may include photos
videos, personal information and messages. The thief may also impersonate you
to extract money from your contacts. To prevent this, lock WhatsApp with a PIN
— you will need third-party apps to do this.
In case of
theft of phone with an unlocked WhatsApp account, get a new SIM immediately and
use it to register with WhatsApp on another device — this will instantly
deactivate WhatsApp and the other phone.
3. Instagram
You might
not want everyone in the world to see and comment on your Instagram photos.
A simple
way to enable this is by making your Instagram account private — this means
that only those who follow you can see your photos and new followers will
require approval from you. The other security feature you should activate is
Manual Photo Tagging. Go to the Instagram profile section and tap on the Photo
of You (last icon below your bio) — tap on the menu button on top right and
select tagging options. Here you can enable `Add Manually’ — this will prevent
you from being tagged in unwanted photos. You have given third-party apps
access to your Instagram account. To manage these apps, you will need to login
to Instagram on a computer and select ‘Edit Profile’. In the settings page that
opens up, you will see Manage Applications section where you can revoke access
for unwanted apps.
4. Twitter
Apart from
changing your password often, one of the easiest things you can do to secure
your Twitter account is to use login verification.
Once you
sign in to twitter on a computer, from your profile icon drop down menu, click
Settings and then Security & Privacy Settings.
Before you
can use login verification, you will need to confirm your email ID.
You can use
the iOS or Android app to complete the process. Once in a while, also head to
Twitter’s settings page and click Apps — here, you can check which apps and
devices have access to your account.
Some may be
from a couple of years ago on older devices — you should revoke access to the
ones you no longer use or recognize.
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