How to secure your Instagram account using 2FA

By Maria Varmazis

With our archives full to bursting with stories of hijacked social media accounts, it’s a very good idea to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) on all the platforms you use. 2FA combines your password with something else – a text message to your phone, a code generated by an authenticator app, or a physical key.

Although Instagram is part of Facebook, and Facebook supports several 2FA methods, the 2FA setup process isn’t exactly the same as it is for Facebook, so if you need a bit of help on how to get two-factor authentication on your Instagram account, we’ve outlined the steps in detail below.

While you can browse Instagram and use some Instagram features from a web browser, it’s really meant to be accessed within the Instagram app. To follow the steps below, you’ll need to be logged into the Instagram app on your smartphone or tablet.

•  
• Go to your Profile by tapping the person icon in the bottom right of the app.
• Open the “hamburger” menu in the top right of the screen. Tap Settings at the very bottom of that menu.
• Scroll down to the Privacy and security section and open it up.
• Under the Security section you’ll find the Two-factor authentication option.

Read more at https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/12/31/how-to-secure-your-instagram-account-using-2fa/

How to secure your Twitter account

By Maria Varmazis

Intrusions into your Twitter account might range from mild annoyance, to a serious PR fail, to an international political gaffe.

Regardless of how you use it, there’s no need to make it easier for someone who wants to hijack your Twitter account. It’s quite easy to improve the security of your Twitter account and it only takes a few minutes.

Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)

Having a strong, unique password is an important first step to securing your account, but passwords can be easily guessed or generated by an attacker, so by themselves they’re not enough to stop someone in their tracks.

Your best bet to keep someone out of your account is to also enable two-factor authentication, which means you’ll need a second factor – like a numerical code or physical key – to prove it’s you when you log in to your account. It’s extremely unlikely that someone trying to break into your account has both your password AND access to your unlocked phone, so it significantly reduces the chance of an account break-in by enabling two-factor authentication.

Read more at https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/12/29/how-to-secure-your-twitter-account/

How to protect your Facebook account: a walkthrough

By Maria Varmazis

Those of you who have joined team #DeleteFacebook may avert your eyes. There are some of us – okay, many of us – who remain on the ubiquitous social media platform, and if you’re one of them, there are some things you can do to make your account more secure from prying eyes.

Here we walk you through the important settings you can change and behaviors you can implement to lock down your privacy on the social network.

Note: To change many of the settings below, Facebook will ask you to input your password. It’s a good reminder that if your password isn’t strong or unique to the site, now is the perfect time to change it!

Enable 2FA

If you only do one thing on the list in this article, do this: enable two-factor authentication (2FA). This means someone trying to break into your Facebook account needs more than just your password, they also need a second token that you own, be it a code or a physical key. The chances of someone having this in their possession are pretty small, so this step will stop most intruders in their tracks.

Read more at https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/12/28/how-to-protect-your-facebook-account-a-walkthrough/