The time to go fishing is when the fish are biting. The time when unscrupulous people will try to hack into your website or social media profiles is during periods of high activity, such as the holiday season. Hijacking your digital presence now, when customers are actively engaged in mobile shopping and other holiday activities throughout the day, can cost your company serious money. You want to make sure you’re protected.

Step One:

Change your website password now, and give the new password only to those employees or team members who have a legitimate business reason to have that access. The best passwords are between 8-12 characters long, and don’t contain dictionary words or easily guessed phrases. If you work with a company that supports your website marketing, let them know it’s time for a password change – don’t assume they’ll do this for you automatically.

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Step Two:

Change your social media passwords, and give the new password only to those employees or team members who have a legitimate business reason to have that access. Make sure your password for social media sites is not the same as your website password: people who have successfully hacked one will try the other, and if they have the same password, you’ve lost all semblance of protection.

Repeat these two steps throughout the year. The vast majority of website hacks and social media hijackings take place through insufficient passwords. Give yourself the gift of strong passwords and limit access to them; the peace of mind you’ll enjoy will be well worth the time it takes to change the passwords!