Safety Tips to Protect Teens' Accounts and Prevent Facebook Hacking

Joan, a school teacher received some inappropriate and spam messages from her daughter’s Facebook account. Upon asking, her daughter showed no knowledge of anything of that sort. Joan got worried because such images and messages could ruin her daughter’s reputation if they were being sent to everyone she knew. She investigated her daughter at first. A few days later, one of her colleagues shared the same problem regarding her son’s Facebook account. After doing complete research, they came to know about Facebook hacking.

It is not surprising news now that Facebook hacking is one of the most common threats that kids and even adults face on Facebook. It is most common with teens’ accounts because teens hardly care about their privacy and they don’t know how to keep the hackers off the hook. Parents are on the same boat but are more worried about their teens because teens tend to share everything on Facebook which can turn out to be dangerous for them in the future especially with the hacking thing.

How to Prevent Facebook Hacking?

Being a parent, you know how to keep your information private and keep the hackers away. That’s the main reason why hackers tend to attack kids' and teens’ accounts because they are careless with these minor details and they can fall easily into the trap. So, for parents, here are some of the safety tips that they can teach their kids to keep them away from Facebook hacking incidents and make them understand the importance of safety and privacy.

·Don’t Register If You Are Under 13

Yes, everyone knows that but not everyone follows it. Kids are usually too eager to join Facebook that they easily lie about their age without thinking that there are certain reasons why there is an age limit for joining Facebook. So, it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure their kids don’t join before 13. Tell them about the appropriate reasons behind the decision to help them realize why such rules are set.

·Strong Privacy Settings

When they join Facebook, they are usually very open about their information and entertainment without thinking about the consequences. They hardly take care of their privacy settings unless they are guided about it. It is the responsibility of the parents to help them figure out their account and set it up with the right privacy settings. They must be taught about how important their privacy is because of the people who are in constant need of kids like that.

·Don’t Post Contact Information on the Profile

They must be taught that they must not share their phone numbers, email addresses, or any other information on their profile for public use. A Facebook hacker can easily use this information for a wrong use or spam or to torment the kid. Kids must know about these threats and dangers before being given the independence to use their accounts as per their will. They must understand that the less they expose, the better it is.

·Don’t Ever Post Your Location

Predators and criminals are always in search of this tiny information about your personals. When you share your personal information especially location on your account, some predators are constantly keeping an eye. Also, teens should never post things like they are home alone and where they are going. This must be taught to them.

·Report Abuse

Teens must be taught that whenever they feel like they are being threatened by someone on Facebook or have been receiving threatening messages, they must not hesitate while reporting abuse. They must not tolerate anything that is beyond their understanding. They must talk to the parents as well if anything of this sort happens. The more they respond to these things, the more chances there are for hacking.

·Password Should Be Strong

This is another reason why parents must help the teens set up their account. Teens often use silly passwords for their new accounts without thinking that it will make it easier for the hacker to hack. They must have a very strong and a difficult to guess password. Make sure if they are using any public computer, in school, public place, or library, they must log out completely and don’t leave a trace behind. This is what hackers are looking for.

·Be Smart About What You Are Posting

Tell them that no matter how eager they are to post everything about their life, they must not. Hackers and predators look for the stupid things that teens post on their accounts to use them against the kids. So, teens must be taught that they should never post everything that comes to their mind and life on Facebook. If you are sharing something embarrassing about yourself in fun, for now, there are 100% chances that it will be used against you in the future when you have no memory of it. So, be careful about what you are posting.

·Use Parental Controls

Yes, parents have this huge responsibility to take care of their kids and for that purpose, if they wish they can use parental control features to make sure they are keeping an eye on them. Parental control apps like SecureTeen make sure that you know what they are doing on their social media platforms and with whom are they chatting. You can even manage their screen time using the app. With its amazing features, you can know beforehand if there is a threat coming to them so that you can help them.

Using these tips can save teens from being exploited and ruined by threats. The most important thing is that they understand how these threats must be handled and why they need to be careful. They must not think that you are being authoritative on them for no reason. Communicate with them politely about the things that matter and how they need to handle these things. They must be given the confidence to come to you whenever they are in trouble.

Reference Article:

https://www.secureteen.com/facebook-monitoring/hack-facebook-account-using-url-online