Strategies to Protect Your Online Profile from Cyber Threats

Did you know? In the previous year, over 1.7 billion individuals globally received breach notifications. Our world has become a global village, and now maintaining an online presence is as important as a physical one. 

However, it is also true that cybercriminals are evolving their strategies to exploit online profiles. Whether it’s a social media account, forum profile, or email account, your online identity is the primary target of every cybercriminal.

Therefore, every user must take the necessary steps for protection. In this blog post, we will be discussing some of the best strategies that you can adopt to avoid attacks on your online profile. 

Proven Techniques to Prevent Cyber Attacks on Your Online Profile

Here are some of the essential tips and tricks that you can consider following to safeguard your online profile from cyberattacks. 

It is suggested to follow or implement all the below-mentioned strategies at once on your profile to ensure maximum protection. 

1. Create Strong Passwords

For every account online, passwords serve as the most important line of defense to prevent unauthorized access. When your profile is standing on a weak password, there is a high probability that it can be easily compromised. 

So, spend time and effort on creating strong and unique passwords. There are numerous tips you can adapt; some of them are

• Your password should be at least 12 characters long. 
• It should contain a mix of letters, symbols, or even numbers. 
• Use a mix of both uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Do not use personal information, i.e., birthdays, names, etc. 

One more unique tip that will significantly help strengthen the password is adding invisible characters. These are Unicode characters that are unseen to human eyes, but the algorithms of online profiles count them as real characters. 

Use the invisible character tool to quickly create and copy such characters. Here is an example of a strong password. 

Sunnyday!42ㅤRainbow

The blank space between the password is actually an invisible character. With this hack, it is almost impossible for a cybercriminal to hack or damage your online profile. 

2. Enable Two-Step Verification

Even if your password gets compromised, the two-step verification feature will still keep your online profile secure and protected. 

This feature or capability works by sending a code through a message or a call to your primary device to complete the login process. This acts as an alert that someone is trying to access your account. 

If that’s you, then you can simply enter the code and complete the login process. However, if you don’t recognize the access attempt, then don’t share the code or approve the request at any cost. 

Many online platforms like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. provide the two-step verification feature. You need to manually enable the two-step verification feature by exploring the privacy settings. 

When enabled, you will be sure about the security of your online profile. 

3. Avoid Linking Social Accounts to Your Profile

We have often seen individuals linking each and every social media account to their online profile. This is good for building a personal brand or identity, but it also increases the overall risk of cyberattacks. 

Let’s say that the profile on which you have added social profile links gets compromised; this will significantly increase the risk of other linked accounts getting affected. This is because multiple accounts will give the cybercriminal a broader surface to play on. 

That’s the reason why it is considered an effective technique not to link your personal or other accounts to a single online profile. 

Note: If you still want to link for any reason, then it is suggested to periodically review the access of each connected app and remove the unused ones. 

4. Do not share personal information in chats

Last but not least, we all have friends who met through online browsing…right? So, while chatting with them online, do not share personal information. 

This is because private conversations, especially on unsecured platforms, are the main targets for data harvesting and social engineering. 

Cybercriminals may pretend to be your trusted contacts and ultimately extract critical information such as

• Your phone number or address
• Password details
• Bank information

No matter if you are on a trusted or non-trusted platform, to keep your profile safe and secure, avoid sharing personal information in chat. 

So, these are a few proven strategies that will help you protect your online profile from cyberattacks. 

Final Words

Cyberattacks on the online profiles of individuals are increasing day by day. Now, it has become extremely important for everyone to take essential steps to protect their online profile. Numerous proven strategies are available that can be adapted in this regard; some of them are discussed in this blog.