Social media accounts hold some of our most precious digital memories and help us stay in touch with our loved ones. You could say that they are our "digital home" of sorts. Facebook and other online services offer security features that help protect your accounts and community and are easy to use.
A recent survey conducted in cooperation with Meta - the parent company of the Facebook application, showed that 59 % Slovenian users of social networks consider hacking into their account a stressful event, but at the same time only 25 % use two-step authentication - one of the most effective protections against intrusion attempts.
When asked what would be the worst consequence of an intrusion, more than half of Slovenians answered exactly 53.3% of Slovenian users of social networks, mentioned the potential harm to the viewer if a hacker were to post on their behalf, or send messages to their friends, 40 % mentioned access to private messages, 32 and % mentioned the possibility of friends cheating.
Despite the fact that people recognize the potential impact of hacking, it is interesting that it is only 25 % respondents said, that they use two-factor authentication, one of the most effective defenses.
Also not insignificant is the fact that approximately a quarter of Slovenian users of social networks (24%), especially older ones, never change their passwords on social networks, while 37% change their passwords less often than once a year.
The good news is that as many as 91% Slovenians declared that they are ready to spend more than 5 minutes to improve the security of your account, which is exactly the time it takes to set up a two-step password.
The importance of information security, with which each individual can influence the security of their own data, was also highlighted by the Information Security Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia: "Be careful on the Internet not only when using social networks, but also in other ways. Also follow the advice of the programs Varni na internetu (https://www.varninainternetu.si/ ) and SAFE.si (https://safe.si/ ) and URSIV on Twitter (@URSIV_Slovenia)," are recommendations for individual safety on the Internet pointed out Marjan Kavčič, head of the sector at the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Information Security (URSIV).
It only takes a few minutes to review the security and privacy settings on Facebook, or to activate an additional security feature at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/checkup. Here, people can very easily change their password, enable two-factor authentication, and security warnings about login attempts from unrecognized devices.
"The safety and security of our users is always one of our top priorities. As most of us rely more and more on technology to help us stay in touch with family and friends around the world, security measures to protect us online are vital. Your privacy review Facebook account is extremely simple, so we encourage all users to spend at least a few minutes on it," says Eva Ivančič, head of public policy at Meta.
As part of an information campaign to encourage the use of the Privacy Overview at facebook.com/privacy/checkup in cooperation with the Kijek/Adamski animation studio, a creative animation was created that shows the potential consequences of a break-in to your "digital home" in a somewhat humorous way.
Here are four simple steps to increase the security of your Facebook account:
Visit Privacy Overview to check the security of your account.
Protect your password:
- Do not use the same password as on other sites.
- The password should not contain your name or popular words - it should be difficult to guess. You can also find more information about creating a strong password on the security measures page.
Never share your login information with anyone. - Two-factor authentication: Two-factor authentication is a way to significantly strengthen your security. When someone logs into the account from a new device or an unknown location, in addition to entering the password, they must also enter an additional code that they receive on their mobile device - for example, via an SMS message or a special application.
- It's also worth enabling login alerts. This way, you will receive a special notification if someone tries to log into your account from an unknown device or web browser.
