Burger King, MacDonald’s, Jeep and Cadillac…….. what do these 4 brands have in common this week?

Over the last few days there has been a couple of instances of Twitter accounts being hacked -whereby Burger Kings logo was replaced with the Golden Arches and Jeep with Cadillac’s symbol and some strange and at times very inappropriate content was tweeted!

Regardless of being a newbie to social media or someone who has spent a reasonable amount of time  on the SoMe platforms this can be unnerving.  But there are ways to secure your accounts and also red flags to be on the watch for:

First thing is DO NOT USE the same simple password across all sites – yes I know it is easier to remember, but also very easy to crack –  make your password at least 10 characters that include upper and lower case characters,and include  numbers and/or symbols if possible (there are ways to remember these – and it does not have to be in your head! – check out password managers here )

Secondly, if you see links that seem weird – they probably are – and if you are asked to sign-in with your twitter password – look up at the address bar and check you are actually on twitter.com ( or Facebook.com ) and not on a fake site know as a Phishing site. If you are in doubt enter the site you want into the address bar and go directly to it to sign in.

Thirdly  – never give away your usernames and passwords to a third party – such as someone offering to bring in new contacts and likes to your accounts. An outside person can compromise your site. If you have someone doing Some marketing  for you they should be added as an admin for your Facebook page so if your agreement ends so does their access and posting abilities.

And last – but not least – ensure your computer’s anti-virus software and operation program are kept up to date with the latest updates and releases which are often to address the latest security threats.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy :

Not all of this is as terrible as a SoMe newbie might think  – according to Mashable,“The Twitter mishap isn’t all bad news for Burger King though — the account added 5,000 new followers in the first 30 minutes since the hackers took over.”

Let’s Be AWESOME* Together!