Social media is an important part of the online presence of many companies and businesses. And keeping your social media accounts safe is essential for your overall cyber security, but also for your brand image and reputation too. But how can small to medium sized businesses keep social media accounts safe and protected? Well, here at Creative Network Solutions, we are Manchester’s leading IT support and network services experts. From secure remote access services to business VoIP, we are the team you can count on. And this is our guide to everything you should know about keeping your company social media accounts safe
What are the most important security tips for company social media accounts?
There are a number of steps involved in protecting the social media accounts of your company, and preventing any unauthorized access, or content that can ruin your brands reputation. These steps involve:
- Developing a social media policy
- Choosing an effective password, and updating this regularly
- Using two-factor authentication
- Use a post approval system
Developing a social media policy
A social media policy will establish some ground rules for use of the brand social media platforms, the type of content deemed acceptable, and the specific access granted. This will not only protect your from security threats, but also from bad PR, reputation damage and potential legal trouble as well. Training those members of staff with access to the company social media platforms should also be included as part of this policy, as human error is one of the main access points for cyber criminals. this training should alert staff to suspicious practices and messages received online, and prevent cyber crime.
Choosing an effective password, and updating this regularly
As with all your business accounts, it is crucial to choose an effective password for your social media platforms, and this can make all the difference in terms of security. An effective password is one that generally:
- has twelve characters or more
- is completely unique to all your other platforms
- combines letters, numbers, upper-case letters and symbols
- is not easily guessed
Once you have a secure password though, you should be sure to update this regularly to keep your social media well protected.
Using two-factor authentication
If someone with unauthorized access was able to crack your password, or gain access to this inadvertently, they could then access your social media accounts and find personal contact information for your clients and customers, including potential payment and financial details. However, ti is more common for cyber criminals to instead ruin your brand reputation and image with offensive content and spam messages. To prevent this from occurring, you need not only an effective password, but also to set up two-factor authentication. This means that to access the social media platform you will need the right password, and then access to the recovery phone number or email address as well. And this is much more difficult for cyber criminals to access.
Use a post approval system
Finally, it’s not just the cyber security that can be effected by poor social media practices. It is also your company reputation and image. Allowing your team, or freelancers or contractors to post to your social media accounts, without post approval, can leave the door open for inappropriate content to be shared, which can have a long term, damaging impact on your company. Setting up post approval is a good way to prevent this, and it can also give you an early warning of any suspicious activity on your account too.
For more information or advice about any cyber security issues, why not ask the experts today, here at Creative Network Solutions.