How to Protect Yourself from Social Media Identify Theft

by anjuan

November 23, 2010

Online social networks like Facebook and Twitter continue to increase in popularity.  These sites allow an unprecedented amount of personal information to be released for public consumption.  In fact, some life insurance companies are using the information provided on social networking sites to predict the life spans of applicants in order to determine if coverage should be granted. While the recent example of Dawnmarie Souza, who was fired for bashing her boss on Facebook, reminds us that social networks can result in the loss of our jobs, they can also result in the loss of our identities.

Social media identity theft is similar to identity theft in the real world.  However, instead of having to dumpster dive outside your place of residence, a perpetrator can simply discover details of your life from the comfort of home by using a web browser.  By finding personal information about your digital trail, a criminal can impersonate you and open financial accounts in your name, contact your family and friends to ask for money, or engage in a variety of other damaging behavior.  Here are some guidelines to help you protect your identity when using social media sites.

Complex Passwords

While often created to be as easy to remember as possible, the passwords you create for Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare, and other social media sites should be complex enough to not be easily guessed.  Passwords are the first line of defense in protecting your social media profiles, and using words like your name, a pet’s name, or your street address is a mistake.  Consider using the first letters of an easy to remember phrase in combination with a series of numbers and special characters when creating a password.  For example, the phrase, “biscuits and gravy taste great in the navy”, would yield the letters “bagtgitn” which you can combine with numbers 3, 6, and 9 and an exclamation point to yield the password “bagtgitn369!”.  While this is a strong password, make sure you generate a different password for every social media site you use in case one gets compromised.

Privacy Controls

According to a study released by the Poneman Institute, approximately 65 percent of users do not set strong privacy controls on social media sites.  Since most social media sites default privacy settings to a low level in order to make it easier to find and connect with other people, this leaves users vulnerable to identity theft. Take time to understand the privacy settings of the social media sites you use, and change them to only allow people you trust to see your profile.  Also, do not add personal information like your telephone number and home address to your profile.

Monitor Your Online Identity

Keeping track of your online identity is a great way of measuring your personal brand, and it’s also important for finding impersonators.  Create Google Alerts based on your name to have reports mailed to you about how your identity is being used online.  If you own your business, set up Google Alerts for your company’s name so you can track it as well.

Secure Your Hardware

Take steps to make sure that any device you use to access social media sites is secure.  On desktops and laptops, install antivirus software to protect them from threats like keyloggers which record your keystrokes.  Also, lock your computer when you’re away from it and use password protected screensavers that activate after a few minutes of inactivity.  You should also add passwords to your mobile devices like smartphones and tablets since they are easy to misplace.  Additionally, take steps to secure your wireless network by updating the firmware in your router and using modern encryption protocols like Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).  In general, don’t use a computer or network you don’t control to access social media sites.

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