Is your account secure enough or you and 98 others are busy right now?

The use of Facebook, Twitter, and so many other social media platforms has numerous personal and business benefits but as recently witnessed - with the widespread attacks on Facebook accounts which also hit Zimbabwe - comes with its own fair share of risks.

I have over the last months, come across quite a number of unpleasant and unfortunately, vile posts being shared across Facebook and a lot of friends and colleagues over the past few months have either been compromised or had their accounts hacked. Some have been fortunate to regain access and take back control however, some have totally been left at the mercy of these cybercriminals.

As once a victim of a vicious cyber attack on Facebook more than 10 years ago, the recent breaches and malicious threads on Facebook all but brought back bad memories. At the time, I had close to 1000 friends and would post pictures and updates every other day.

I woke up to over 20 missed calls from my friends, family, lecturers and schoolmates one Sunday morning only to find out I was locked out of both my Gmail and Facebook accounts. Thank God both my parents didn't have active Facebook accounts then and were saved from the first-hand trauma- and embarrassment I endured.

The hackers posted all sorts of offensive stories and shared links to X-rated websites on my wall sending shock waves to all my connected friends who knew me as a decent and devoted Christian with a good and firm upbringing. It was a nightmare!

I only managed to regain access to my accounts after about 3 days with the help of an ethical hacker from Russia but boy -those were the longest days of my life. I was so shaken that I stayed off Facebook for over 2 years and even when I came back to the platform- I used an alias for over 3 years and had very few friends. Over the years I have regained my confidence but am still wary and always exercise caution on what I share. Today, I thought it better to share my story and help others secure their accounts and help someone keep those hackers out.

I will start by sharing a few tips on how to secure your account to ensure that you minimise and mitigate this risk of losing control . Here are some quick tips from @Facebook that can help you keep your account secure

1.????Have a strong password that excludes your name or those of your loved ones, your birthday can easily be hacked.

2.????Don’t share your login information with anyone

3.????Always Log out of Facebook when you use a shared device.

4.????Only accept friend requests from people you know.

5.????Be on the lookout for malicious software

6.????Never click on suspicious links

7.????Set up your account to get notifications for all new logins

8.????Regularly check and review Apps and software that has access and permissions to your account

9.????Regularly check the devices that you are logged and remotely log out of unknown devices and old gadgets

10. Set up 2-Factor authentication on your account

As we wind up, I would like to draw your attention to 2-factor authentication, a security measure that you can set up for your Facebook, LinkedIn, Gmail accounts etc.. This is sometimes referred to as a 2-step verification," which is an additional layer of security on your account.

Setting this up allows you to be able to know when your account is being logged in as you will be prompted to provide special login codes to confirm your identity before accessing your account. These codes can be SMS notifications valid for a short period of time, e.g. 2 minutes, or they can be generated by a 3rd party authentication app. I am familiar with the Microsoft and Google Authenticator apps which can both be found on Play Store or ?Appstore.

You can start by setting this up on your LinkedIn account.

1. Go to Account settings

2. Scroll to Sign in and Security, then proceed to Set Up.

Here is a direct link to get you started –

https://www.dhirubhai.net/mypreferences/d/two-factor-authentication

You can also follow these steps to set up or manage 2-factor authentication on your Facebook account:

1.????To turn on or manage two-factor authentication:

2.????Go to your Security and login settings.

3.????Scroll down to Use two-factor authentication" and click Edit.

Choose the security method that you want to add and follow the on-screen instructions.

When you set up two-factor authentication on Facebook, you'll be asked to choose one of three security methods:

1.????Tapping your security key on a compatible device.

2.????Login codes from a third-party authentication app.

3.????Text message (SMS) codes from your mobile phone.

Once you've turned on two-factor authentication, you can get ten recovery login codes to use when you're unable to use your phone. If you wish to use the 3rd party authenticator apps make sure you download it first, then proceed to set up.

Add more tips and share this with a friend so that we keep our social media accounts safe.?