Concerned that your social media accounts might be hacked? You are not alone as a new study from NordVPN He explains that Americans are becoming increasingly concerned that they may soon lose access to their Facebook, TikTok and other accounts.
The VPN The company surveyed just over 1,000 US consumers to find that 7 in 10 (70%) are concerned that their social media accounts might be hacked while nearly a third (30%) are very worried.
The fact that more users are worried that their social media accounts might be taken over by hackers is not surprising, especially since most respondents (89%) reported knowing someone has fallen victim to a social media hack. However, 28 percent of those surveyed said they knew between 5-10 victims of a social media hack.
Among these hackers, nearly 8 out of 10 (77%) said they Facebook account hacked While 35 percent reported that someone Hack their Instagram account. Meanwhile, a quarter of them said their Twitter or YouTube accounts had been hacked and 23% said someone had taken over their TikTok account.
in Blog post (Opens in a new tab) Detailing the survey results, NordVPN indicated that nearly a third (32%) of respondents are concerned about their Facebook account being hacked.
Perhaps in part due to its growing popularity, more than a quarter of users (26%) are concerned that their TikTok has been hacked. However, there are increasing concerns about other social media accounts being hacked including Snapchat (21%), Instagram (20%), Twitter (19%), and YouTube (18%).
In all, 76% of users are more concerned about their social media accounts being hacked than in previous years, highlighting this growing threat.
NordVPN also took a closer look at the social media apps most trusted by consumers as concern about being hacked “coincides with a general lack of trust in social media.”
When respondents were asked which app they trust the most with their privacy and data, nearly half (47%) chose Facebook. YouTube is closely followed by 43 percent even though other social media apps have almost not.
Truth Social (7%) and Discord (9%) were the least trusted apps behind Reddit at 12%. Nearly a third (29%) of users trust Instagram while 20% of users trust the Twitter and TikTok apps.
When it comes to least trusted social media apps, Facebook ranked first with 34% followed by TikTok (33%) and Twitter (23%).
If you value your social media accounts, fortunately there are several steps you can take to secure them from hackers.
First, each of your social media accounts should have a unique strong password as well. Reuse passwords For multiple accounts, it makes it easier for hackers because if they get the password for one account, they can access your other accounts. For this reason, you must use one of the files The best password managers Create strong passwords for your social media accounts and store them securely.
Daniel Marcuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN, offered more insights into the importance of using strong passwords in a statement to Tom’s Guide, saying:
“A questionnaire (Opens in a new tab) An investigation of password habits indicates that while two-thirds of respondents agree that strong passwords should be used for their accounts, only half of these people practice what they preach and use that strong password. This means that the rest use easy-to-guess passwords, making it easier to hack the account. Therefore, it is not surprising that social media accounts continue to be hacked.”
At the same time, two-factor authentication is enabled (2FAAll of your social media accounts have an extra layer of security as you have to verify your identity using two different methods when logging in. Most social media platforms offer this feature but it is up to you to enable it.
New device login alerts can also be useful when it comes to fending off hackers. They protect your account by telling you if someone is logged in. If you see an unfamiliar device logging into your account (especially from an unfamiliar location), you know that it has been hacked and you will have more time to take the necessary steps to recover the account.
Just like in your inbox, you should think twice before clicking any links or even Scan QR Codes They are sent to you in private messages or posted on social media. Even if the link doesn’t look fishy at first glance, it’s worth hovering over it and checking its URL to see where the link will take you before you click it.
[ad_2]
