Techniques hackers use to hack social media accounts & ways to prevent being hacked

Hacking is the gaining of unauthorized access to data in a system or computer.

There are several reasons why hackers may target social media accounts, but one of the main motivations is financial gain.

Social media accounts often contain unique and distinctive personal information and broad reach, making them a valuable assets for hackers. 

Your social media account can be hacked in several ways, such as through a phishing scam or by downloading a malicious app. 

Once a hacker has access to your account, they can do a lot of damage, like stealing your personal information, posting offensive content, or contacting your friends and family.

Below are some of the techniques they use to get access to your account and ways you should prevent it from happening;

1. Sending fraudulent links

First, the main method they use is by sending fraudulent links, and by this, they make fake social media login page that looks legitimate.

Hackers always share it with their potential victims to get login from a fake site. 

When a victim enters his/her credentials it redirects to the hacker's machine.

It's the most effective technique since many users are not able to differentiate between real and fake sites login pages and they get fooled and end up giving out their credentials.

To prevent your account from being hacked, be cautious before you click any link sent to you from any person, these people could be your friends, followers, or family members, or just avoid clicking links you know nothing about.

Most links come as free giveaways, or get-rich scams, just know that no one is going to give you money for free so just ignore them.

2. Cookie Hijacking

Cookie poisoning or hijacking is a type of cyber attack in which someone forges and manipulates cookies to gain unauthorized access to a user's account. 

They open a new account and still information for malicious purposes.

 It’s possible that with cookie hijacking, hackers can gain limitless access to all of your resources. For example, an attacker may steal your identity or confidential company data, or even bank details.

To prevent this make sure that you clean cookies from your browser every week and avoid using public Wifi.

3. Key Logging

Keyloggers are software that records what a person types on a device.

 Many hackers use keyloggers for evil reasons in that, they record everything a person or target is doing on their device and send it to the attacker.

To prevent this, always make sure that you download software from trusted sites only and use a two-step verification.

This adds an extra layer of security to your Google Account and in addition to your username and password, you'll enter a code that Google will send you via text or voice message upon signing in.

Kenyan Celebrities like Denis Itumbi, Kenrazy, and Sanaipei Tande are just some of the known people whose Instagram and Twitter accounts have been hacked recently.

Read Also:

Check out the latest news here and you are welcome to join our super exclusive Mpasho Telegram group for all the latest and breaking news in entertainment. We would also like to hear from you, WhatsApp us on +254 736 944935.