5 Tactics to Prevent Snapchat Passwords from being Hacked

No doubt you have heard your colleagues, friends, or strangers at the shopping mall talking about Snapchat at least once, but could you explain what it is? According to statistics, there are more than 187 million daily active Snapchat users, and this number continues to grow quite rapidly; however, we are sure we would still find people who perceive the word Snapchat as nothing more than fancy teenager slang. If you can relate to this, we have a question for you – where have you been hiding all those years? Huh? Just kidding! Here is the definition for you.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is, actually, quite a big deal. Originally, it was developed by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown, former Stanford University students, as an application for sending pictures and videos that disappear after a few seconds or after being played once. Thanks to periodic updates, Snapchat differs from its initial version to a great extent these days. It not only allows users to replay those photos and videos sent from friends, but also makes it possible to share them with more people (e.g. followers) with the click of a button using the useful feature called Snapchat Stories. Additionally, users can save their snaps to private storage using the Memories feature. That is really cool, isn’t it? Generally speaking, Snapchat no longer focuses on private person-to-person interactions only.

The problem with Snapchat

The application itself sounds like great fun and a useful tool to capture precious moments while, for example, traveling or simply to keep in touch with friends/family who live far away from you, but given its popularity, there is no doubt that hackers have already set their sights on hacking Snapchat accounts belonging to users. The majority of these hacks that occur are not the Snapchat’s fault. It is simply a matter of users’ carelessness. Believe us, there is definitely nothing pleasant about the invasion of privacy. Imagine that your Snapchat password falls into the hacker’s lap. How would you feel knowing that all your embarrassing pictures, stories, and chats are accessible to unauthorized people? Yeah, that brings horrible feelings, we know. Only God knows what a Snapchat password hacker will do with its prey, so if you still can, you should take all possible security measures to prevent cyber criminals from getting your Snapchat password.

How can I tell whether Snapchat password hackers have my Snapchat password?

Snapchat is hardly perfect since hackers manage to find security loopholes from time to time. Back in 2013, hackers leaked a stolen database containing 4.6 million users’ usernames and phone numbers. Having this information in their hands, hackers could have taken over more accounts on other websites as well. In addition, it is hard to forget the security incident that took place in February, 2016. Well, in this case, the phishing attack affected only people working for Snapchat, but this proves once again that cyber criminals target Snapchat, and it is only a question of time when they will find a new way to cause security-related problems to Snapchat users.

No doubt there is plenty of Snapchat password hackers targeting personal Snapchat accounts, but we are sure some Snapchat users could not even understand that they have been hacked, so it is very important to learn what the main symptoms indicating a hack are and how to recover the hacked account. If you notice any unusual activity, e.g. spam is sent from your account, but you are 100% sure you have nothing to do with it, or you have several new friends you cannot recognize, the possibility that hackers have your Snapchat password is huge. Also, you should never ignore alerts saying that someone has logged into your account from a new location, device, or an IP address. Third, if you notice that you need to log into your account every time you want to access the Snapchat app, there is a possibility that someone accessed your account from another device, thereby logging you out. The last clear symptom showing that a hacker might have your Snapchat password is the unauthorized alteration of the mobile phone number and/or email address associated with the account.

5 tips to prevent Snapchat password hackers from logging into your account

Do not use weak passwords

Of course, not all users’ accounts get compromised. Undoubtedly, Snapchat password hackers steal weak passwords more commonly, so our piece of advice for you would be not to use passwords like 123456 or passwordpassword. Keep in mind that replacing symbols “o” with “0” or “s” with “$” will not improve your password strength. The same password should not be used for several different accounts too. Needless to say, you cannot use your precious puppy’s name as your password as well. Experienced specialists recommend creating passwords that would contain both lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The password cannot be shorter than 6 symbols, but it would be best to go up since many experts say that the password should not be shorter than 14 characters. Many users have a hard time trying to come up with a strong password themselves, but times have changed – you do not need to invent a password yourself anymore. Leave this job for a password manager instead!

Change your Snapchat password

1. Access the Camera screen.
2. Tap the profile icon located at the top-left corner.
3. Open Settings.
4. Select Password.
5. Set a more secure password.

Reset your Snapchat password using SMS

1. At the Snapchat Log In screen, tap Forgot your password?
2. When you are asked how you want to reset your password, select SMS.
3. Enter the received verification code.
4. Select Continue.
5. Enter a new password.

Reset your Snapchat password via email

1. At the Snapchat Log In screen, tap Forgot your password?
2. Select that you would like to reset your password via email.
3. When you receive the email with the URL link, click the URL.
4. Enter your new password.

Use a password manager

We would recommend using Cyclonis Password Manager. Its Password Generator will allow you to create secure Snapchat passwords of up to 32-characters length easily and quickly. Once the password manager has generated the password you like, simply click the Generate & Copy button and enter it in the password field. Cyclonis Password Manager can be useful for those who tend to quickly forget their passwords too. You could keep all your passwords in a secure vault using this password manager. Additionally, Cyclonis will make it possible to auto-fill login names and passwords and thus access your account in a second. What is more, since the password manager encrypts data added to the vault using AES-256 in GCM mode, it will be very hard to steal it and thus hack your personal accounts as long as you do not tell your Master Password to anyone.

Do not share your password with anyone

Never tell your Snapchat password to anyone if you do not want to get hacked. You might get a call or an email from someone pretending to work for Snapchat, but we can assure you – there is nothing legitimate about it. Social media websites never ask users to provide any personal information. An email from Snapchat claiming that your account was hacked and asking you to enter your password or other personal details is 99% a pure lie too, so be cautious and do not fall for it.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To secure your Snapchat account, you should also enable an optional feature called Two-Factor Authentication. It is an additional security layer you can add to your account to make it ever more secure. Depending on the method of the authentication you set, i.e. use the Authentication App or set to receive security codes via SMS messages, you will be asked to check your phone or your app to get the code and then enter it each time you log in from a new device. It is advisable to enable a Recovery Code too in case the device with the enabled Two-Factor Authentication is lost, you change your telephone number, or you reset it to factory settings.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

1. Access the Camera screen.
2. Tap the profile icon at the upper-left part of the screen.
3. Tap the Settings button.
4. Tap Login Verification and follow on-screen instructions.

Get a new mobile phone number and secure your email account

If you suspect that your mobile phone number sits in the hackers’ database, you should request a new number from your mobile provider as soon as possible because having it in their hands, Snapchat password hackers might find a way to access your account illegally. Additionally, make sure your email password is secure as well (if not, use Cyclonis Password Manager to generate a complex one for it) because it might be used to reset your Snapchat password and then access your account with all your personal snaps.

It is always easier to prevent problems than fix the damage that has already been done, so make sure you do not act carelessly in the first place and monitor your account activity periodically. Also, set a secure password and enable a Two-Factor Authentication to prevent Snapchat password hackers from taking over your account. Also, you should use a password manager to keep your password safe instead of writing it down on a sheet of paper that unauthorized people can easily access.