Now that I’ve got your attention with that headline of hacked photos of celebrities and keeping your nude photos private online, let’s talk security. It is important that you make it tougher for your devices and accounts to be hacked. While no system is fool-proof, you can make yourself a smaller target for hackers.
There is speculation as to how the celebrities’ accounts were hacked by malicious users. One is that there was a breach in Apple’s iCloud due to a ‘brute force’ attack on specific accounts’ passwords. It seems that there was a vulnerability in the Find My iPhone service, which has since been patched. A brute-force attack is an attack using a malicious script to repeatedly guess passwords in an attempt to discover the right one that will allow the user to access the account.
From the reports I’m reading it may not be a system-wide breach of the iCloud, but a targeted attack on these celebrities to gain access to their accounts for the sole purpose of gaining access to photos to spread across the Internet either to humiliate or extort the victims. Social engineering often plays a huge role in hacks thanks to the the amount of information we have online publicly. A hack for passwords by trying to guess passwords based on things associated with the person or company. For example, look on a Facebook page without strict public settings and you may see a birthdate or pet’s name. If it’s a company, the hacker may try derivations of products the company offers.
So how do you prevent a hacking of your devices and social accounts?
■ Change your password frequently. And don’t use “1234.”
■ Don’t have the same password for everything. Mix it up.
■ Enable two-step authentication for your accounts where a verification of a change or unfamiliar access point is sent to your mobile phone in a SMS-text message or to a secondary email address associated with the account.
■ Change the email you use for social media sites. Don’t use your primary email.
■ Enable pass-codes and locks on all of your devices.
■ Turn on the https// in your browser for Facebook and Twitter. Enable all security features.
■ Use a VPN when using unsecured public WiFi connections on all of your devices that includes tablets and smart phones.
■ Keep your operating systems and apps for your devices updated.
Use the above tips to keep your photos safe.
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Social Media Crisis Communications: Preparing for, Preventing, and Surviving a Public Relations #Fail is now available in eBook format. Buy it now! (If you like the book, please leave a review; it is greatly appreciated)
TIME CRUNCH? Are you putting your crisis communications plan together and need help? Or are currently dealing with a crisis and need crisis communications assistance? Get help NOW. Contact Ann Marie at ann@mindthegappr.com or +1 302.563.0992 today.
