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U-M Social Media Hack Serves As Reminder To Take Proper Security Measures

It's back to business as usual on the the Facebook pages of the University of Michigan football and basketball teams after they were hacked twice in one day.  University officials say they still don't know how it happened but have apologized to the two million followers who may have caught a glimpse of the pictures of scantily clad celebrities.  

The sites have been monitored day and night since the problem occurred and a University of Michigan spokesman says they have added another layer of security to their Facebook pages as protection.

University of Michigan athletic officials are still keeping a close eye on their facebook pages, after they were hacked twice in one day.   The university apologized for the incident to its fans on Facebook and removed the content.

It all happened twice in less than twelve hours.

IT experts say that by clicking on the content you could have downloaded a something nefarious on your device.

We talked talked to Carl Powell, the Chief Information Officer at Eastern Michigan University about what to do when events like this occur. Powell says you should be fine if you have anti-virus software on your device.

 
Powell adds that, "as long as you put some effort to secure your device, the casual hacker is going to bypass you and go on the the millions of other people that haven't taken any precautions."

Now if you used your cell phone to view the pages, you should do the same thing on that device.

If you don't have anti-virus software, it's recommended that you download one and scan your computer.

EDITOR's NOTE:
 
Other best practices to consider are

  • keeping your software up to date
  • enable two-step verification, or considering frequent password changes
  • use a commercially available anti-virus programs

 

Two-factor authentication is a simple feature that asks for more than just your password. It requires both "something you know" (like a password) and "something you have" (like your phone). After you enter your password, you'll get a second code sent to your phone, and only after you enter it will you get into your account. It's a lot more secure than a password (which is very hackable), and keeps unwanted snoopers out of your online accounts.

 
 

Patrik is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and functions as the New Media/Social Media manager for 89.1 WEMU.
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