How to Keep your Social Space (Twitter/Facebook) Hacker Free

Stop being a victim to hackers/phishers. There are periods on Twitter when I receive DM (direct message) after DM of messages such as:

• haha. This you???? (followed by link)
• Hello! I am 29 and wet… (You get the picture)

Frankly, I am tired of getting these messages. I am tired of direct messaging the victim and telling them to change their password and connections. (And it really pisses me off that people you follow can DM you, but you can’t DM them back — what the heck is that about?)

Below I will include some information that will not only  help you rid yourself of the hacker/phisher in question – but also to help prevent yourself from becoming a victim again. The signs aren’t invisible — but rather obvious with the trained (or informed) eye.

How to Keep your Social Space (Twitter/Facebook) Hacker Free

You know you’re about to be hacked when..

• Someone you rarely talk to sends you a link or video.
  • Think about it. You barely talk to them. Why are they sending you a link or video? One word: Hacker. (Not them, they are the victim – but the action itself). Do yourself a favor and do not click on it. Message them back and tell them that you believe they have been hacked and they need to be careful. If you click on this mystery link, you are only setting yourself up to become another victim.
• You click on something and find yourself having to log in to (Facebook/Twitter) again.
  • This is USUALLY what happens when you click on above link or video. You think, “Well I must have timed out. I guess I will login again.” DON’T. This is how the hacker/phisher gets your login information. Are you even looking at the URL? Twitter hackers may have a url that reads something like http://twitter.rl.com/ or something on the sly like that. If you find yourself clicking on something within twitter that redirects you to a login page — simply exit your browser and type in the URL yourself. You may see that you are already logged in (duh).  If in fact, it was a server issue, you may re-login again.. but I would be skeptical of the mystery video and/or link. Better to be safe than sorry (and an annoyance to your followers for being sorry).

Those signs are the most common phishing schemes/hacking schemes I see. But — in your case, you saw the Twitter/Facebook hackings a little two late. What to do now? What to do?

• First things first – check your connections on Twitter. (http://twitter.com/settings/connections) Are there any new connections you don’t remember adding? (Revoke) Are there any recent connections at ALL in the time you have suddenly started spamming people (Revoke). Revoke any connection that is not a well-known legitimate twitter application. For Facebook, edit your application settings found under ACCOUNT> Application Settings (http://www.facebook.com/editapps.php?ref=mb) and take out anything that seems out of ordinary. Heck, now that you know it’s there.. clean it up! (And stop gripping how you’re sick of getting so many Farmville gifts because you don’t play it. Just delete the application from your settings!)
• Change your password. (Is your daughter, Jane’s birthday on 3/11/09) Don’t be a fool and use “jane31109″ as your password. Many people are trained in the art of social engineering and can figure out your password easily. Make sure your password has a mixture of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. This makes it virtually impossible for hackers to gain access – at least, quickly.
• Change your password to your email account, and do not use the same password as your twitter.
• Run a Virus Scanner (you can do it online easily, which will also check for rootkits, which, if you have one – it’s bad news). A good virus scanner to run is FSECURE Online Scanner (http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/online-scanner/index.html) If this runs up clear then you should be fine.
• Up your virus security protection. Most paid virus scanners are (well- shit). I recommend checking out a free virus scanner that I’ve been using for years called AntiVir (http://www.avira.com/en/download/index.php) Currently, this scanner is not MAC compatible.

Between checking your connections and changing your passwords (and running a few virus scans) you should be in the clear. Don’t fall victim to social hackers, again.