In the age of hacking and evil bots, most people worry about how to stay safe online. When it comes to the Kik Messenger app, there are easy yet effective ways to stay safe.
Making sure that you keep your Kik Messenger is essential if you want to make the most of the instant messaging app.
Is Kik Messenger Safe?
The first thing that you should know is that Kik Interactive (that’s the name of the company behind Kik Messenger) goes to great lengths to protect its customers’ safety and privacy.
But, unfortunately, no matter how far they go into protecting their users’ safety and privacy that is not necessarily enough.
It is up to individual users themselves to ensure that they use the app responsibly and safely. The problem is that most people are not sure what that actually means. But worry not. That is what I am here for. Just read on for useful tips on how to keep your account safe.
Can Your Kik Messenger account Get Hacked Into?
Most people who use the Kik Messenger app know that it is one the world’s most popular instant messaging apps. After all, that is one of the main advantages of using it. It is easy to stay in touch with your contacts and make many new friends when you use an app that has millions of different users around the world.
But that is not just it. Another advantage of using the Kik Messenger app is that you do not need to share personal information with other users. If you consider that WhatsApp requires its users to divulge their own telephone numbers in order to chat or place calls or that Facebook Messenger is linked to your Facebook account, the advantages of Kik Messenger when it comes to privacy become obvious.
Because, unlike all its competitors, the only thing that you need to let other users know in order to message them is your unique username. Of course, as you, know your username does not have to reveal anything about you as it can be just a random collection of different characters.
Now you do not even need to share your username, you can just share your Kik code through social media (Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc.) to get new friends on Kik Messenger.
So, messaging with other Kik users has never been both easier and safer.
But, despite all of that, anyone could find themselves getting hacked. Getting your Kik Messenger account hacked into is a lot more serious than it may at first sight appear.
Some people do not realize that if they get hacked criminals would have access to their personal information, including financial details such as credit card numbers, etc.
The best way to prevent this is to never divulge personal information through the Kik Messenger app.
The following are some of the items that you should never tell anyone that messages you on Kik:
- Your full name.
- Your home address.
- Where you work and/or go to school.
- Your telephone number.
- Your bank details.
- Your credit or debit card number.
You should also never reveal those details about anyone you live with, such as your parents, siblings, etc.
This is particularly important if you happen to chat with people whom you do not know in real life.
But even these measures are not always enough. Some Kik Messenger app users can fall victims of phishing. Phishing is when a bot tries to obtain personal information from you, chiefly financial information such as your credit and debit card number. Although Kik Messenger takes active steps to get rid of these bots, from time to time they do fall through the cracks.
I don’t like showing my privacy online. – Eduardo Saverin
If you are approached by a Kik user that persistently asks you to reveal personal information and uses unnatural-sounding English, you may just be the target of a phishing bot. If this “account” sends you a link, then you can be sure that you are dealing with a phishing bot. Under no circumstances do click or tap on the link. If you do, you will be redirected to a phishing site where you will be asked to provide personal financial information. In that case, leave the website immediately.
If you have been targeted by a phishing bot, you need to report them to Kik so action against them can be taken. You will not need to block them as reporting a user will also block them, so they will not be able to contact you again.
How to Prevent Hacking?
The measures that you should take to prevent hacking are the same no matter what account you are trying to protect: your Internet banking, your email, your social media logins, and, of course, your Kik Messenger account.
The best way to prevent hacking is to have a strong password. But, what does that mean? And, is that enough?
The first thing you need to ensure is that every single one of your online accounts (i.e., anything that requires you to log in) should have a different password. So, do not use the same password for more than one account.
But, again, that is not enough. You would also need to ensure that each of those passwords is strong. A strong password is one that is hard to guess. Many people like to use their pet’s name, date of birth, other significant personal information that is easier to remember but also relatively easy to guess. The best passwords are those who are totally random, like a combination of meaningless characters.
Once you ensured that all your passwords are strong and different for each of your accounts, you would be a lot closer to doing all you can for keeping your account safe. All that would be left for you to do is change your passwords regularly (every few months or so).
This has bee How to Make Kik Safe. If you have any questions or would like to share any tips of your own to keep your Kik Messenger account safe, please leave us a message in the comments section below.