Teens may understand how to use Instagram, Snapchat, and how to post the best photos, but not all know how to avoid being hacked. While teens statistically know more about technology they are the most likely to be unsafe on the internet.

A study by Pew Research Center and the Berkman Center for Internet Society showed that 71% of teens post their school name, 53% post their email, 20% post their phone number, and only 60% of teens set their profiles to private.

During a study by a firm called Software Advice, teens and millennials were most likely to: reuse an old password, accept requests on social media from people they don’t know, and most likely to find ways to avoid digital restrictions like having no wifi, even if it means using an unsecure network.

These behaviors make teens quite easy to hack. The hacker may try the same password for all accounts and be able to get access. They may make a fake profile and follow you, or even create a hotspot to get people’s information.

One of the worst ways a teen can be hacked is sextortion. Sextortion is when a predator threatens to release someone’s private pictures unless they do what the predator wants. While this is mostly targeted towards teen girls, it can affect guys too. While it is a huge problem it is only illegal in 5 states and the cops don’t track it like they do with regular hacking.

Teens can protect themselves by being hacked by doing any of the following:

1.Having a complex password and using a different one for all your accounts. They also shouldn’t share their password with anyone except their parents.
2.If the teen is hacked they should change their password immediately.
3.Turn on privacy settings and don’t connect to public WIFI.
4.Only talk to people you know on the internet.
5.Don’t click yes when their browser asks if they want their password saved because a hacker could use your browser to get your passwords.

While teens love being on social media and talking to friends, they should be safe about who sees what they do online.