GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Hackers can be relentless, but there are some ways you can better protect your social media accounts.
WFMY News 2 Reporter Erica Stapleton began looking into this after her Instagram account was overtaken by a Russian email address ending with .ru. It's a problem that several others have inquired about online and it's a threat that could impact you or someone you know.
According to Jason Cox, Security Practice Manager at Dynamic Quest in Greensboro, the best way you can protect your accounts from hackers is to turn on 2-factor authentication.
"If you don’t have 2-factor authentication turned on, it’s a matter of them knowing a little something about you and being able to compromise your password," he explains.
Cox says hackers can gain access to your account through a database, but he also says it could be as simple as just guessing your password. A lot of people will use pet names, colors, seasons or something that they like. Without knowing, you could even be putting clues to your interests on social media. He adds, a lot of people use the same password for various accounts. Once a hacker gets into one, they might have access to more than you hope.
"The danger in that is they can potentially get into your bank account information," Cox explains. "They can use it to go attack other people. If they have your email information they can use that to essentially assume your identity and then use that to potentially phish for information on other people, as well."
Cox says he sees a lot of email scams happen this way.
"Spear-phishing is targeting a certain group of people. It’s not the ones of yesteryear where people have all these typos and they’re just throwing it out to the masses, although those are still out there."
The bottom line here is to be careful about what you click and careful about what you post. You should turn on 2-factor authentication for all your accounts and devices. He also recommends changing passwords regularly and using what he calls a "pass-phrase" that's longer, like a sentence, so it will be harder to guess.
"It’s much cheaper to protect yourself and have that little extra step of inconvenience than to have to deal with the recovery after the fact."
In Erica's case, she realized Instagram sent her an email asking whether or not she authorized the new Russian email address. From there, she was able to reverse the switch and gain control of her account again. But not everyone is so lucky. Cox says sometimes if the hacker completely takes over, you'll have to prove to the social media site that you are who you say you are, which isn't always easy.
"It’s all about your identity," he says. "You have to be able to prove you are who you say you are and that’s why taking those steps up front is the most important thing you can do."
WFMY News 2 reached to Instagram about the situation and asked what someone should do if they are not able to recover their account. In an email, a company source referred us to their procedure on hacked accounts.