By now, just about every computer user has heard of the recent Facebook scandal, in which the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica shared the personal data of anywhere from 30 million to 87 million Facebook account holders (depending on whose numbers you believe). It's an understandably alarming situation, not only for individual Facebook users but also for businesses with Facebook accounts – and the underlying concern applies to other social media channels as well. How do you guard your data against such threats? Here are some suggestions from our Austin IT business support team.

Crack down on permissions. You have more control than you may realize over who gets to view or share your account data. Third-party apps commonly request access to this data as a condition of their operation. Check the permissions each of these apps currently has, and un-check any of them that concern you. If the app won't cooperate, ditch the app.

Take the Facebook API out of the loop. Facebook's application programming interface (API) is generally set to act as a conduit between your account data and a variety of other online applications and social media platforms. If you can live without these functions, consider disabling the API.

Close accounts. Sometimes it's hard to say goodbye. But if you really want to Facebook-proof your business data, and you don't actually depend on Facebook for your revenue, then archiving the data and deleting the account altogether is your best bet.

Get cyber liability insurance. Cyber liability insurance can protect business against the financial consequences of serious data breaches. It may not undo the damage, but it can help you recover from it and protect your business against these types of risks.

Need help sorting out your social media safeguards? Contact Gravity Systems so we can evaluate your current setup and make valuable recommendations!

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