Social media security tools are concerned with protecting your brand, business and social media accounts by checking for vulnerabilities and threats. And in this article, we’ll look at all the best tools available on the market that can help you secure your online properties.
The tools listed here have been specially selected by our professional team of internet experts. So, you can be sure that when you use them you are securing yourself against any danger lurking on the cyberspace right now. Our social media security tool list is regularly updated with new tools as they become available on the world wide web.
LastPass
The most common mistake one can make is to have a simple and obvious password or use one single password for all accounts – from Internet banking to an email account. SplashData’s annual list gathers millions of stolen passwords and lists them by popularity. The top five include “123456,” “password,” “12345,” “12345678” and “qwerty.”
LastPass is a freemium password management service that stores encrypted passwords in the cloud. The service is able to save existing passwords as well as generate new ones. It provides two-factor authentication, and the only password a user has to remember and never lose is a master password for the LastPass itself. Your password should ideally be 16 digits and contain at least one number, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one special symbol. The strength of a password can be measured by the Password Meter. Experts recommend changing the master password once every 10 weeks.
LogDog
LogDog is a free product designed to track any suspicious activity related to social media accounts. The system continuously scans various indicators of unauthorized access. When an attack is detected, LogDog sends intrusion alerts and lets users take back control over their accounts. Currently, it’s only available for Android devices. Also, some social networks like Facebook allow you to receive an alert when anyone logs into the account from a new device or browser. This feature must be switched on.
HTTPS Everywhere
If devices used for social media access are shared with others or frequently taken to public places, it is better to protect them with an extra security layer by encrypting the traffic from a browser to a social network. HTTPS Everywhere is a free browser extension that switches websites from HTTP (unsecured) to HTTPS (secured).
AVG PrivacyFix
AVG PrivacyFix is a free application that helps users to adjust privacy settings for Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter and also block unwanted tracking. It’s currently available for Chrome, Android and iOS.
Update: PrivacyFix has been discontinued and is no longer being maintained. For a look at how to secure your accounts manually, check out this guide of alternatives.
Digi.me (formerly SocialSafe)
Another freemium tool, Digi.me is designed to store social media data in case all information is lost as a result of hacking. It allows you to back up and view content from up to four of your social media accounts.
BrandFort
BrandFort can help protect your social accounts from spam comments.
Why are spam comments a security risk? They’re visible on your profiles and may entice legitimate followers or employees to click through to scam sites. You’ll have to deal with the fallout, even though you did not directly share the spam.
BrandFort can detect spam comments in multiple languages and hide them automatically.
Hootsuite Amplify
We’ve already said that your social media policy should outline how employees use social media at work. By providing pre-approved posts for employee sharing, Amplify extends your company’s social reach without additional risk.
Use Dashlane
There are several tools out there that can help keep your online accounts safe, and LastPass, Enpass, Dashlane, RoboForm, 1Password are some of them. But the one we recommend you use, in this case, Dashlane.
What makes Dashlane a great choice is the Password Health feature. With this feature, you will see the score for how strong your password is which will help you decide if you want to use it or not.
Moreover, if you want to add an extra layer of security on your Dashlane account, its recommended that you enable the two-factor authentication option.
Covering the basics: social login security
The most important aspect of the security of an online account is the login password. Many people choose a very weak password, so it’s best to begin there. A good rule of thumb is to make it as long as possible – aim for at least 12 characters.
Most social networks will ask you to use at least one upper case letter, one number, and one special character, but in reality, it’s just better to aim for a lengthy password that you can easily remember.
You can find tools that can help you generate secure passwords, but you’ll have to keep those safe.
Password Managers are growing in popularity, and they provide a lot of convenience and security in both free and paid versions.
Notable examples are LastPass, Enpass, Dashlane, RoboForm, and 1Password, but there’s no shortage of options out there.
A password manager will also do the remembering for you. You will only have to use a master password, which is the key to a vault where all the login details are stored encrypted.
Paid versions analyze the strength of your passwords, and notify you to change them if a service has been hacked.
Lastly, make sure to use multi-factor authentication whenever possible, as it’s free and easy to set up using a mobile phone and QR codes.
Popular tools like Google Authenticator, LastPass Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator will provide you with a one-time security code every time you log in on a new device, ensuring you’re the real owner of that account.
Using an antivirus to avoid scams and phishing
If you’re not already using an antivirus on your Windows PC, there are at least five good reasons why you should.
In short, online threats have only grown with the rise of social media. In turn, the antivirus has evolved to match the increased complexities of online security.
For example, Bullguard has a vulnerability scanner built-in. It will continuously scan your computer. It will notify you in case you are connected to an unsafe Wi-Fi network that might monitor your online activity.
It will also let you know when there are missing security updates for your computer and checks any other software installed or updated for authenticity.
This way, you can rest assured that a rogue software will not take control of your computer and use the social media accounts that you are connected to in order to spread malware to your friends.
Social monitoring streams
Social monitoring lets you stay ahead of threats. By monitoring social networks for mentions of your brand and keywords, you’ll know right away when suspicious conversations about your brand emerge.
Say people are sharing phoney coupons, or an imposter account starts tweeting in your name. If you’re using a social media management platform, you’ll see that activity in your streams and can take action.
ZeroFOX
When you integrate ZeroFOX with your Hootsuite dashboard, it will alert you to:
- dangerous, threatening, or offensive content targeting your brand
- malicious links posted on your social accounts
- scams targeting your business and customers
- fraudulent accounts impersonating your brand
It also helps protect against hacking and phishing attacks.
Social SafeGuard
Social SafeGuard screens all incoming and outgoing social posts against your social media policy before distribution.
This can help protect your organization and your employees from social media risks. It’s also a great compliance tool for organizations in regulated industries.
Conclusion:
You’re busy. You have a job and a family, and probably a few side businesses. You don’t have time to spend hours on social media engaging with your followers. But you want to grow your social media platforms, and build your business. This is where tools for social media security can help.