How To Protect Your Instagram Account From Being Hacked
In the face of large scale “hacking” on Instagram, you may be wondering how to keep your account safe from dangerous folks that may steal your information or use it for evil purposes.
Getting hacked is something that all of us want to avoid! With the dangers of identity theft looming on the horizon, it’s bad for your reputation, branding, and overall image. This is crucial if you are someone that relies on Instagram for a living.
So what can you do to keep your account safe? In the following article, we’ll be talking about the different ways you can avoid being hacked and keep your account out of other people’s hands:
1. Only Use Third-Party Apps You Trust
If you are a business user, most likely, you are using your social media account with third-party apps. These are other services that allow you to track analytics, monitor data, review information etc. If you want to keep your account private, it’s recommended that you revoke access to the apps that are not trustworthy.
How do you know which apps to trust?
Well the first sign of a bad third party service is when you notice that they don’t even serve their own website over SSL encryption. You should see the website starting with https and also that little lock symbol should be present in front of the URL.
Apps that don’t have sophisticated encryptions can get compromised and your data can easily leak.
The second thing you should look out for is giving your login information instead of connecting to your account over Instagram API. Now, to be fair a lot of Instagram management services and account managers use tools that are safe, you as a client just need to trust the service provider who is using these tools.
Take Combin for example. It’s safe and secure. It doesn’t keep user’s credentials and information on their servers like most competitors do — all is hosted in and executed from the user’s own PC.
2. Enable Two Factor Authentication
Instagram began rolling out two-factor authentication in 2016. That added an extra layer of security so it wouldn’t be so easy to access your account with just knowing your password. It’s an important and vital security feature that verifies that the person accessing the account is you (or someone who has access to your phone). You can easily enable this feature in your Instagram settings — all you need is your phone number. Note that some third party apps that you’re using today might stop working after you enable this.
3. Have a Strong Password in Place
The number one rule in managing your passwords is to ensure that your password does not belong in the top 100 popular passwords being used. Choose a unique, good, and strong password. Include a combination of upper and lower case letters with numbers in password. The less people can do guesswork, the better. However if you’re one of those people who don’t want to add number and special characters into your password, remember this — longer is better.
I also suggest that you go to How Secure Is My Password and check how quickly your account could be compromised. The site will let you know if you are already using a strong password. I just checked, it would take 16 billion years to crack one of my passwords.
At the same time, it’s best to use password managers. Apps like LastPass and 1Password are excellent for handling your passwords and creating new, unbroken ones. With these services, you’ll get the benefit of not having the stress of remembering very complicated passwords. You simply must recall the master pass. You don’t even have to type in the complicated ones. Everything can be accessed with a single click or press.
If you don’t want to use these tools try coming up with your own cypher. For example using passwords of dog breeds where every second letter is capitalized and it ends with the number of characters in the word multiplied by 3.
4. Keep Personal Information Private
The best way to keep your account safe is to ensure that you avoid sharing sensitive info in your photos, captions and other public spaces. Be selective of the personal information you share. You probably don’t want to have some creepy dude showing up at your home address. This is not so much about keeping your Instagram account safe rather a general social media tip.
Avoid posting photos that are too provocative or violent. You also don’t want to share private information of other people. Especially without their consent.
Similarly, if you are a parent you should think things through before you start posting content of your kids. My personal opinion is that your kids should be off Instagram altogether. To my understanding, having an account for your kid and posting pictures of them doesn’t directly go against Instagram policy, as by default you as a parent have your kids consent. However, it’s up to each parent to decide if they really do have that consent and how their kids will feel about it when they grow up.
5. Remember the Basics
Remember all the necessary precautions involved in managing an account. For instance, when you log in to your Instagram account on other devices that are for public use or shared access (school, library, work etc), make sure you log out after you’re done Instagramming. Similarly, keep your email addresses that are linked to your IG account secure. There are people out there who might scam you to give access to your email, don’t fall for these schemes. Instagram support will never ask you for your password. Never divulge private information to strangers.
6. What If I’m Already Hacked?
It sucks! It can happen to anyone really. If your account is hacked on Instagram, there is a big chance that your email account has been compromised as well. The first step is to report the issue to Instagram.
Instagram and Facebook are known to have snail speed support. I always recommend getting in touch with their business support. If you just google “Facebook business support” you should be able to find it. In some cases they even offer live chat. Note that this support intended for support advertising features.
If you are having login issues but can still access your email address or phone linked to your account, then using “forgot your password” trick can help you recover your account and seize back control. If you are unable to log in, then it’s best to report the breach here: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/196687840820038
Managing security is important, don’t put your business or personal account on the line. Take the precautionary steps and avoid using third-party apps that look shady. Again, for everyday growth and engaging activity make sure to try Combin.
Have other tips that you use to keep your account safe from hackers? Tell us in the comment section below.
