Four ways to beat hackers and protect your online accounts

[snoop1130]

Four ways to beat hackers and protect your online accounts

By MAYUREE SUKYINGCHAROENWONG 
THE NATION

 

 

THE POLICE Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) is reminding people to regularly change their passwords for social media accounts as a protection against hackers, who broke into many Facebook users belonging to Thai users, resulting in 623 police complaints in 2018.

 

 

Among the 623 cases last year, 499 involved hackers changing, stealing or destroying the victims’ information, causing damage worth Bt2.45 million in total, TCSD deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Siriwat Deepor said yesterday. 

 

The other 124 cases saw hackers using email and social media accounts to trick people into sending them money, resulting in damage of Bt360.87 million for those duped via email and Bt6.41 million for those duped via social media. 

 

Siriwat recommended that social media users follow four steps to fully protect themselves:

 

1. Change your password to one that is hard to guess; 

 

2. Use a Two Factor Authentication (2FA), which ensures the security of online accounts by requiring another piece of information beyond just your username and password; 

 

3. Get a “Did you just sign in?” notification when access from an unrecognised device; and 

 

4. Improve your email security via the account settings.

 

 

He also said that people can check if their Facebook accounts have been hacked by going to “Account Settings”, then “Security and Login”, and then “Where You're Logged In” which allows you to see the list of devices you have used to log in. 

 

If you see unrecognised devices in that list, it is likely your accounts have been hacked so you must “log out” from those devices and change your account password. 

 

Those who have been hacked can report the incident to Facebook administrators, which may require a Thai ID card identification to recover the hacked accounts. 

 

 

Once back in your account, users should change passwords, and if that is not possible, they should terminate the account, he said. 

 

Victims should also report it to police, as well as notify their social media friends about the hacking so anyone being asked to lend or send money doesn’t also fall victim. Hacking equates to unauthorised access, which is an offence under the Computer Act 2017.

 

In a case only this week, one Facebook user with the username “Ohniza Suwattanakul” told her friends on Wednesday that her friend’s Facebook account in the name of “Kookkook” had been hacked, and she warned people not to be fooled by requests for money from that account. 

 

 

She later updated her post, saying that a total of four people had been duped by the hacker – three people were each tricked out of Bt14,500 and one out of Bt5,000 – and both the account owner and the money-wiring victims had already filed police complaints. 

 

The two people whose names were on the bank accounts the victims had wired money to were reportedly unaware of the wrongdoing. 

The cash was withdrawn just minutes after it was sent.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30363746

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-02-08

[tweedledee2]

Having no social media accounts eliminates all 4 issues. 

[willi2006]

" to regularly change their passwords "

This recommendation is outdated. See e.g. Microsoft Password Guidance https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/password-guidance/