Who Do You Have Watching Your Back with Your Social Media?

• So, what happens when a site you are registered on is hacked – like the latest episode of LinkedIn?
• How long did it take you to find out and change your password?

Are you on the internet networks enough to see these notices come up so that you can quickly change your password, or do you just end up finding out this type of information through general news media?

If you are one of those internet users that use the same password for all or many of the sites you’re registered with so you can remember it, which I highly recommend not being, and one of those sites is hacked — it is advised that you change all of your passwords. When using the same password(s) (or very similar ones) on all of the sites you are registered with, the bad guys that end up with this list now have access to all of your accounts. Did you realize that?

All they have to do is write a little program to hit all of the major websites with a variation of your name/email and password. They don’t have to go to much effort to hit hundreds of sites in minutes checking to see if they can find you and get more of your information. The more information they obtain about you, the easier it is for them to ruin your day (or weeks as it may turn out).

Okay, so my main point is, how long did it take you to find out LinkedIn was hacked? Being a social media manager – always being plugged into the internet –  I found out shortly after it was officially announced. I then immediately sent out an urgent email to all of my clients notifying them and asking what steps they wanted me to assist with.

Also, it is always best to use two-factor authentication on any and all accounts. This doesn’t help if the hackers obtained your information from hacking into the company’s server, but it does if they are trying to use your information on other sites.

Do you have someone watching your back on the internet? Expert social media managers can do that for you as they always have an eye on what news is out there about the major social networks, and they are also always checking to see where you and your company’s name pop up!

Let me know how we can “Watch Your Back!”