“Help, I’ve been hacked!”
We’ve heard this way too often lately!
There’s been one too many late night DMs from panicked friends and family who’ve had their social media accounts hacked or compromised recently to ignore the giant problem that is social media account security.
Given we are a team of social media specialists, we are often the first port of call to ask for help in recovering those hacked accounts… The short answer is, it is VERY difficult to recover an account unless you catch it as it’s happening. You can go through the official help channels at Meta, but that can take weeks/months, and doesn’t always guarantee a successful recovery. They are notoriously unhelpful.
We don't want to terrify you, but we also don’t want you to fall victim to one of the many scams circulating right now.
Hence this blog - consider it a serious heads-up, and please, PLEASE take action on your account security if you are reading this.
We operate a super strict security policy at the Agency, and we demand that our clients be hyper-vigilant also. You may have a security policy within your business, but it's often your personal access to socials that can be the greatest weak point.
The volume and frequency of hacking and spoofing threat attempts is on the rise and we want to make sure you are aware of the steps we take to ensure we protect our clients’ social media accounts, and offer you some advice on how to prevent being hacked also.
Our security measures:
We have endpoint device protection for every single member (and device) in our team, monitoring 24/7 for malware and other threats
We do not share passwords via any channel other than LastPass
We have multi-factor authentication turned on for access to all of our file-sharing drives, social and ad accounts, and Business Manager assets
We enforce password resets every single month (this is painful and unpopular, believe us, but we'd rather go through this than risk the pain of losing an account!)
Your security measures:
When was the last time you changed your passwords for your personal social media accounts? Please, please change it. Now. And regularly. The best way to set a strong password is by using a random password generator (like LastPass).
Turn your Two (or Multi) Factor Authentication on. It's a pain in the ass, but could also save your ass when you are under attack.
Never share your passwords via text, email, or any other messaging app.
Common social media threats/scams right now:
A common way for businesses to fall victim to bad actors is through weak personal security on your personal socials, or those of other staff connected to your business accounts (e.g. like that basic IG password you've had for 10 years, and that is likely the same as every other password)…
Beware of any direct message or follow request from someone you don't know. Do NOT click on links inside these messages. Even people you do genuinely know may have been hacked and their account is being used to dupe you into clicking on a dodgy link.
Bottom line is, you can’t afford to be lax with your passwords and security anymore. It doesn’t matter who you are or the size or following of your social media channels; everyone is a target these days.