Convenience – A hacker’s partner in crime

We are all living busy lives, often trading in the safer option for a more convenient one.

Social logins are something that should be considered before implementing.

If you don’t know what a social login is, it is a software sites use that allows you to use the same username and password to get into different platforms.

Instagram has a social login option as seen in the image below, it prompts you to log in through Facebook, this allows you to access Instagram without having to enter your credentials and will keep you logged in as it uses your Facebook credentials to log in automatically.

In my opinion, anything that logs in automatically is a major risk. Hackers are evolving in the way they attack and with artificial intelligence on the rise that can process algorithms and allow hackers to dive deeper into the cybercrime world, log in’s and having control over all your accounts in that way is a weapon you can still use against them.

Social logins are also available on other accounts, such as Wunderlist and Airbnb. It has Facebook, Twitter, Google+ as an option for you to use. Facebook is the most common form of social logins found on different sites.

There are many dangers to this. If that third party stops working for any given reason, you will be unable to log in to your accounts.

If a breach occurs, all your accounts linked through social login will be breached and because you may be using this for confidential apps, not just for social media sites but a private app on your device that information will be breached too.

You may be frustrated with all the different sign ups and log ins that are required each time you want to utilise a site or app, so the appeal of social logins is understandable.

With anything in this hyper-connected world, taking steps to ensure you are doing things securely must be your top priority.

What you can do to ensure you are doing this safely and being aware of the risk, is by having multiple layers of security in place.

Two factor authentication, having security software on your device that can ensure you are not entering details on a spoofed site and protecting you from any malware that may be spread through an infected link.

One way to also have your hand on this is by changing that master password regularly, this means setting a reminder for every 60 to 90 days to change your Facebook and Google password.

Technology is making life easier and it makes sense to take advantage, just do so safely.

Using J2 Home Secure, you can ensure that you have those extra layers of protection on all devices.

Just like hackers are finding new ways to gain access to your accounts, you need to keep updating and finding the best way to protect yourself and your information because a breach of your devices can impact your work life which will put more individuals and organisations at risk.

Let’s get real.

Olivia-Hannah Coetzee