{"id":10917,"date":"2019-05-02T09:36:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T09:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/face\/?p=10917"},"modified":"2022-02-15T13:15:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T13:15:16","slug":"two-factor-identification-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/two-factor-identification-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should not share your phone number"},"content":{"rendered":"Approx read: <\/span> 2<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>

Your phone number is a password. Treat it like one.<\/h2>\n

Would you give a sleazy dude you just met your real digits? Then why do you use your real number to sign into apps?<\/p>\n

Phone numbers are totally underrated. For some reason we see them as friendly bits of information that connect people. Actually, they’re portals to all your stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As a person with a pulse in the digital era, you\u2019ve used two-factor identification. If a bad guy has your username and phone number, they can choose the TFA option to reset your passwords and gain access to all your stuff. And I mean ALL your stuff. Just a few minutes\u2019 browsing on social media can reveal answers to bank security questions: first pet, favourite teacher, hmm, maybe these questions aren\u2019t so secure after all.<\/p>\n

So how does a bad guy get your number in the first place?<\/h4>\n

First, let’s talk about motivation. Selling phone numbers is a thing on the Dark Web. So the person who stole your number isn’t always the person stealing your identity.<\/p>\n

Hackers can break into your phone from the comfort of their greasy dens.
\nSomeone might see you writing it on a form at the chemist, or hear you telling it to the cashier because you forgot your loyalty card. Or somebody found a contact list in your recycling bin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What can you do about it?<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Get a fake phone number. Virtual numbers are VPNs for your phone.<\/li>\n
  • Keep up with software installations.<\/li>\n
  • Consider anti-virus protection for that little computer that also makes calls.<\/li>\n
  • Opt out of sharing your phone number on social media- if a social site gets hacked, so do your detes.<\/li>\n
  • Establish a secondary PIN or password with your mobile carrier that must be used when changes to the account are made.<\/li>\n
  • Google yourself. Does your number come up?<\/li>\n
  • Getting flooded with calls? Evildoers may be blowing up your phone to get you to turn it off, then do a number swap.<\/li>\n
  • If your phone starts acting squirrelly, contact your bank ASAP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Next time someone asks you for your phone number, think before rattling off those familiar digits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As a person with a pulse in the digital era, you\u2019ve used two-factor identification on social media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":10925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[298,1279],"tags":[1140,1210,1209],"class_list":["post-10917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-tips","category-travel-tech","tag-online-safety","tag-password","tag-two-factor-identification"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10917"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14243,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10917\/revisions\/14243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}