When everyone was desperate for a Twitter alternative, Mark Zuckerberg came through and launched Threads. In less than a week, Threads garnered over 100 million users, becoming the fastest growing consumer app in history.
But concerns about user safety and privacy are coming to the forefront. What can you do to ensure you are protected while using Threads?
1. Use a Strong Password
This may seem like a generic tip, but you’d be surprised how many people reuse passwords, don’t understand what constitutes a strong password, or have dangerous misconceptions about how password security and access control really work.
If you use the same password for every online account, and just one of your accounts is compromised, the rest are too. So, for a start, ensure your Threads (or Instagram) password is unique, and do not use it anywhere else. Also, make sure you change it from time to time, as to avoid any additional complications in the event of a security breach.
By implementing these simple practices, you may significantly increase your security on Threads, or any other platform for that matter. However, none of this will help much if you don’t have a strong password; a password that is long, contains a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers.
2. Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
Most platforms nowadays havetwo-factor authentication(2FA), and Threads is no exception. This is a simple and efficient security mechanism that requires account owners to provide two forms of verification before being granted access to their account.
When 2FA is on, after putting in your username and password, you need to confirm who you are—for example by entering a code sent to your email address or phone number. In other words, if a threat actor were to obtain your password somehow, it would be of no use to them without access to your email or phone.
To enable 2FA in the Threads app, tap the bars in the upper right corner, selectAccountin the drop-down menu, and navigate toSecurity > Two-Factor authentication. Here, you can choose between several different verification methods, but it’s probably best to stick with SMS verification, because then you won’t need to download any additional software.
3. Review Your Privacy Settings
It’s hardly a secret that most Meta products collect a tremendous amount of data from users.Threads is relatively safe, though it is far from private. But is there anything you can do, as a regular user, to enhance your privacy?
Since Threads and Instagram are closely linked together, you might have to tinker with privacy settings on both platforms to limit what others (and the apps themselves) know about you.
To access privacy settings in Threads, tap the profile icon and selectPrivacy. Here, you’re able to set your profile as private or public, choose who may mention you, see which accounts you have muted or blocked, unfollow people, mute certain words and hashtags, and so on.
4. Limit What You Share
Platforms like Threads are great if you want to communicate with people around the world, but at the same time you should recognize that it’s crucial to limit what you share. And not just on Threads, but any other social network.
This is primarily a matter of security and privacy. A capable cybercriminal might connect the dots from what you post online and exploit the information you share publicly to carry out a scam, or worse.Harassment and cyberbullyingare also major issues. If you expose too much of yourself online, you risk becoming a target.
Also, if you tend to engage in discussions about sensitive issues, the last thing you want is your employer to stumble on your posts. If you want to protect your reputation online, it’s best to limit what you share publicly. Creating a separate, anonymous account for that purpose seems like a far better option.
5. Beware of Phishing Attempts
Phishing is a type of cyberattack that revolves around deceiving the target to reveal sensitive information. A typical phishing attack is conducted through email, by attackers who impersonate a legitimate entity—a financial institution, or the government, for example.
With that said, phishing can also be carried out via social media. The Threads app is no exception. Nothing stops a threat actor from impersonating a legitimate entity, and scamming people into divulging their information. Sure, there are spam and anti-fraud filters, but they don’t always work.
To stay safe from phishing on Threads, make sure you always double-check whether other users are who they claim to be. And more importantly, never click on suspicious links. Even if everything about a Threads account seems legitimate, use alink-checking toolto verify the link’s authenticity.
6. Don’t Trust Everything You Read
Social media has democratized access to information, and enabled real-time discussion on a global scale. In some ways, this is a double-edged sword, because false and misleading information spreads just as rapidly as legitimate news. This can sometimes have devastating, real-world consequences.
Media literacy is not an innate talent, but rather a skill that is acquired with time. Still, anyone can fall for fake news and misinformation, or disinformation. You are more than likely to encounter it on Threads, just like we all do on most platforms we use, no matter how censored and moderated they are.
This isn’t an easy problem to solve, but what you can do is pause whenever you come across information that seems questionable, cross-reference information from multiple reputable sources, and do your best to verify its authenticity.
Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have been around for nearly two decades. It remains to be seen whether Threads has the same staying power. What we already know, however, is that Threads will face many of the same issues its predecessors have faced, and some of them concern security and privacy.
In the end, no matter what platforms like Threads do to protect their users, some dangers will persist. And that will probably always be the case, because no social network is inherently safe. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do all you can to protect yourself.
