But … do you know if your account has been hacked?

Here are some tips which can give you a pretty clear indication that your account has been hacked:

1. You notice posts that your account posted but you didn’t write them.

Even if this seems to be very obvious, it is not always easy to notice this. For example, if there are many persons that post into the same account, you’ll have to ask all if they really post. Or, if you automatically publish on your Twitter and Facebook account links from your blog, it might be that something (usually a service like Networkblogs or similar) has posted on your behalf.

If you notice something like this, delete the posts immediately and change your password.

2. You notice that somebody logged in from a different location.

Most service offer something like this these days. Note that the location is always approximated. But, if you are in Germany and you see that somebody logged on from China, then you know that this hasn’t been you. If you have any doubt, just disconnect that session (works on Facebook).

3. An app starts to post on your behalf

It might happen that you liked an app or you were a victim of likejacking. On Facebook you can check which apps you have liked or installed and you can disable them.

If you don’t know the apps that you find there, remove them from your profile. Make sure that their posts are also gone.

4. You can’t login anymore to your account

Assuming that you didn’t simply forget your password, it might be that someone (or something) got access to your account and changed the password. In this case you can try to recover your password. Please note that if this is indeed the case, most probably the cyber criminals have also replaced the email address used to recover the password. In this case only contacting the owner of the platform (e.g.: Facebook, Twitter) might help you get your account back.

5. You’re suddenly start following a lot of new, unknown people

Are you suddenly following or becoming friend with a lots of new people you don’t know? For example, Twitter malware may hijack your account and make you follow spambots. Similar on Facebook. This is like a chain effect that helps spreading the malicious URLs to more people. If you notice this, change your password immediately.

Related to this, if you notice that your account sends a lot of private messages or emails, to the same – change your password.

It would also be nice to erase all posts made in this time and let everyone know that they should not click on the links.

If you think your account on these platforms has been hacked you can contact the owner of the platform:

Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/forms/hacked

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hacked

G+: https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery

This is a chapter in Improve your Security free eBook. Get it from here: http://improve-your-security.org/book/