Facebook isn’t immune to bugs. Neither is Twitter. No social network can avoid the games that hackers play. So, why is it so shocking when a bug hits a network? Mainly because it can, does, and could happen. Twitter is currently under bug attack. The latest Twitter bug swaps profile account photos.

If you’ve noticed that your profile photo isn’t yours, your account has been hacked. There’s nothing that can be done about this right now, but Twitter has told press that the company is working on the bug. Twitter has also disabled account profile settings for the time being, so you won’t be able to change your Twitter photo or update your profile right now.

The number of social media hacks and bugs has been on the rise lately. Since many social media users store lots of personal and private details on social sites, the possibility that an account could be hacked is really alarming.

Then again, one has to wonder whether or not bugs and hacks of this nature should still be frightening in this day and age. After all, shouldn’t social users be used to these problems by now? Maybe. But, just in case you aren’t used to hacks and bugs of the social kind, there are some things you can do to protect your social network information.

It Starts With Security

The first step is to make sure that your details aren’t public. Letting the world see your Facebook status updates is one thing. Making your address, phone number, credit card information, and other details public is another thing. To change your Facebook settings:

1. Click on the Settings tab underneath your name and take the time to go over those privacy customization options. Twitter isn’t quite as easy to configure.

Since the whole point of Twitter is to share information with your followers (and the world in general), making your Twitter account private is somewhat nonsensical. However, it can be done. You can lock your Twitter account.

To do this,:

1.\tClick the Settings tab that is underneath your user name.
2.\tFind the Account tab at the bottom of the screen.
3.\tClick on Twitter Privacy and select the “Protect My Tweets” option.
4.\tSave your profile settings and move on.

If you lock your tweets, anyone who wants to read what you are writing will have to check with you first. Again, not recommended if you want to network with Twitter users.

It Ends With Careful Consideration

Finally, just be careful about what you post. If you are leaving town for a while, don’t post your address, destination, and arrival and departure times. This is just asking for trouble. If you do want to post some personal details, make sure that your posts are private or only available to a few people. Otherwise, just pick up the phone and let your family know where you will be.

Twitter is still working on that aforementioned bug. While you can’t prevent a stunt like profile photo swapping from happening, you can make sure that your social networks are secure.