Do you log in to websites or apps with your Facebook or social media account?

This could allow criminals to steal your login data (email address, password) for Facebook. Facebook's parent company Meta has announced that it has identified more than 400 phishing apps for Android and iOS this year through which criminals have accessed personal data. We HERE .

We advise against logging into other services using a social media account - unless such a connection is absolutely necessary.

The most important information about “Login with social media accountin brief

  • One login for many websites: That sounds great because you only have to remember one password.
  • Problems arise when this login is cracked by criminals.
  • In addition, a lot of your data can be exchanged with the so-called single sign-on.

Everyday life on the Internet: You find an offer that you like and have to create an account. To make it easier, the site offers you to log in with your Facebook, Google, Twitter or other previously used data. If you log in with an Amazon account, you could also pay on the other website. This is referred to as “single sign-on” in the broadest sense; the user account serves as a kind of master key.

The advantages are obvious: no registration, no need to provide data, no hassle of creating and remembering a new password, no additional provider to whom you have to trust your bank account details. But convenience also has risks.

If the “master key” is lost

As with a master key to a house, the potential damage if a password for a “single sign-on” account is lost is particularly great. If it falls into the wrong hands, for example due to a phishing or hacker attack, the thieves not only gain access to your user account, but to all pages with the corresponding login option. So they can then buy things at your expense or do other crap. This is comparable to using the same password for every account.

It is therefore all the more important to particularly secure these user accounts. Choose a strong password and only use it for one account! Ideally, you can also secure the account using so-called two-factor authentication. It's not enough to just enter your password. For example, you also have to enter a PIN that was sent to your cell phone via SMS. However, you will of course have to provide the provider with your mobile phone number. Before you do this, you should be clear about what the provider actually does with this information: How and where does it store it? What else does he use them for?

If a security breach does occur, be particularly quick and change the account password immediately! Check your email and bank accounts for possible payment transactions. If you notice any inconsistencies, file a criminal complaint with the police.

Providers may receive a lot of information

Regardless of security, such a “master key procedure” also entails risks in terms of data protection. By logging in, all information about the things you do on other sites can theoretically be collected by the user account provider.

Under certain circumstances, they may then receive comprehensive data about your preferences and shopping behavior. He can use this to create a comprehensive profile and, for example, tailor advertising to you.

Pay attention to activity on your social media profile

Another danger is that things happen on your social media profile that you don't even know about. Example Facebook: As a rule, every time you use the Facebook login on another website, you activate a so-called Facebook app for the corresponding site.

Some require significant rights, such as liking or posting things on your behalf without informing you first. So if you have to confirm the activation of an app on Facebook, read carefully what this app wants to do and don't just click on the blue OK button. In many cases you can prohibit individual rights. We have a separate article that explains this in more detail.

Here you can check which applications are connected to different networks:

You might also be interested in: Social media: Young people want more contact and less “posing”

Source:

checked4you

Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )