With all the recent news of security breaches and information being leaked it seems appropriate to discuss security for social media accounts. Many people, and until recently myself included, use the same or similar passwords for all of their accounts. This is a bad idea. Depending on your activity level on a particular service, the value of the account can be significant for those looking to harvest information. It isn’t your bank account, but identity theft is something you should consider as you post your digital life on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Keeping your information secure is something that should be of paramount importance anytime you interact with or use the Internet.
How can I ensure my information is safe and my password secure? Make sure that your passwords are secure and not shared with others Change your social media passwords (and other Internet passwords) regularly Consider using pass phrases instead of oddly spelled passwords Consider using a password manager to help remember and fill in your online passwords
Using a password manager? Is it safe to trust a service with my online passwords? Today, most people have more passwords than they realize, from Facebook, twitter, and social media sites to email and online banking passwords are everywhere. Some people I know have said they often use the same password for several sites. This is generally a bad idea since compromising one site could allow access to many other things. A password manager such as LastPass (http://www.lastpass.com) allows you to store passwords for use across multiple computers (mobile devices too for about $1/month) and even generate secure passwords for websites. To access stored passwords, you will configure a master password for the service, leaving one password to remember. LastPass does not have access to information stored. There are automated tools to help you if you forget your password, but employees do not have access to it.
Keeping your information safe starts with knowledge When the idea that ignorance is bliss was coined, there were probably far less ways to get information about other people, but with the growth of the Internet and popularity of social media, we as users of these services have to be diligent about keeping our information as safe as possible. There will likley always be security breaches of some kind that customers cannot hide from, keeping an eye on all of your Internet accounts and change passwords on these accounts regularly.
