Has your Instagram account been hacked? Here's how to protect yourself on social media
-
Loading... - Anna Russell
- 26 May 2022
- 286 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Instagram users are reporting an influx of hackers getting access to personal accounts through their networks. Once in, hackers will post and promote different forms of digital investments, including ForEx trading and cryptocurrency.
Users say they’re having difficulty regaining control of their accounts. Here are some takeaways on cybersecurity hygiene.
Why does this happen and why on social media?
Once hackers get access to your personal social-media account, they gain access to your followers and your network. It’s also unlikely to get a lot of negative police attention.
“One thing that’s incredibly difficult in Canada is police resourcing for what we’ll call petty cybercrime, the Instagram attacks and hijacks, the ransoming of people’s Instagram accounts,” said David Shipley, CEO of New Brunswick-based Beauceron Security and co-chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Cyber. Right. Now. campaign.
Alex Kucharski, communications manager for Meta Canada, said in an e-mail statement the people who “abuse online platforms like ours are always looking for ways to evade enforcement, using new, increasingly sophisticated tactics.”
Social media is particularly vulnerable because its users are not necessarily its customers and the business model doesn’t allow for ideal security measures, Mr. Shipley said.
“There are very few paid social media platforms. … If they force better security on their users, they’re concerned about slowing down subscriber and user adoption rates,” he said.
“If they make social media and security inconvenient, they actually hurt their revenue source, which is eyeballs in front of the advertising.”
Ali Dehghantanha, professor of computer science at the University of Guelph and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity and threat intelligence, said there is also no definitive way to tell whether these hacks are state-sponsored cyber operations.
Meta, however, said they disclose such operations on a regular basis.
“We disclose co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour by state actors in our monthly CIB reports and quarterly adversarial threat reports, which you can find here,” Mr. Kucharski said.
How can users further secure their social media accounts?
The best defence is a good offence. Prof. Dehghantanha warns it is important to maintain high security standards to avoid cybersecurity attacks and enable the recommended security features on social-media platforms.
Meta suggests the following tips and practices: choosing a complex and unique password that uses a combination of at least six numbers, letters and punctuation marks; ensuring the use of different passwords across different services; revoking access to third-party apps unless, for example, DUO Mobile or Google Authenticator is a primary security method; and turning on two-factor authentication.
“The two-factor authentication is good,” Mr. Shipley said. “What’s key is strong, unique passwords. So having a password manager is important and making sure you don’t reuse passwords.” Read More…
