Thursday, 08 FEBRUARY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Setting strong passwords and minimising the use of hashtags in pictures can help prevent the hacking of social media accounts, experts said. Despite efforts by authorities to monitor the situation, it has become increasingly common for accounts to be hacked on social media platforms. Hackers even create duplicate accounts of individuals and exploit them for deceptive purposes. In light of this, experts strongly urge individuals to establish robust privacy settings to safeguard their accounts from being hacked.
Cyber expert Nitin Pandey emphasised that the rise in social media accounts being hacked highlights a concerning lack of vigilance among users. He stated, ‘Nowadays, data breaches on social media platforms are commonplace, providing individuals with easy access to hack and misuse someone else’s account. Additionally, individuals are becoming more focused on displaying their possessions, resulting in a lack of awareness regarding privacy and an increased risk of being hacked,” said Pandey.
He further added that creating strong passwords containing numbers, characters and alphabets, as well as enabling the two-factor authentication feature, can protect social media accounts from hacking. He pointed out that minors are often involved in such activities.
Further, the deputy superintendent of police of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) Ankush Mishra said that the main reasons for social media accounts being hacked are unsecured browsers, clicking on phishing links and accidentally sharing passwords. In addition, he said that hackers not only hack into accounts but also create duplicates of them, which is typically due to failure to lock the profile and sharing personal details in public domains.
“To prevent such activities, it is imperative for individuals to ensure that their social media accounts are secured by enabling privacy settings. Further, individuals should exercise caution and refrain from clicking on unidentified links. Additionally, individuals must exercise discretion and avoid installing any remote control applications from the Google Play Store,” said Mishra.
