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As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Digital Resilience Association (DRA) reminds organizations that brand accounts on social media are critical digital assets. They directly affect a company’s reputation, audience trust, and financial stability.
Compromising such accounts can lead to:
- blocked advertising accounts,
- loss of followers and data,
- financial losses,
- and serious reputational crises.
Reliable protection of accounts is based on three key principles:
- A proper role-based access model,
- A backup administrative structure,
- Two-factor authentication (2FA) for all access levels.
1. Role Model and Access Minimization
Each access level must correspond to a specific function:
- Owner – manages the account and user permissions;
- Administrator – manages settings and users;
- Editor – publishes content;
- Moderator – responds to comments and messages;
- Analyst – has access to statistics and reports.
Main rule: Grant only the minimum level of access required.
Use personal accounts rather than shared logins. Shared accounts create accountability risks and complications when employees leave.
2. Backup Administrators — A Standard of Digital Resilience
Each corporate account should have at least two independent administrators, who:
- use different email domains,
- use different mobile operators,
- and work from separate devices.
Conduct a monthly backup check, ensuring:
- successful login,
- up-to-date contact details,
- correct access rights,
- and review of the activity log.
This setup enables account recovery if one admin is compromised or the main communication channel is lost.
3. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) — Mandatory for All Roles
2FA (or MFA) must be enabled for all roles, including owners, administrators, and editors.
Preferred methods:
- authenticator apps (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.);
- hardware security keys (YubiKey, Titan Key).
SMS should be used only as a backup option.
Recovery codes must be stored offline by a responsible person (e.g., the CISO or head of marketing operations).
Passwords should be unique, long passphrases stored in a corporate password manager with departmental access segregation.
4. Access Lifecycle Management
Every access process should be formalized:
- Onboarding: access granted by request, with defined role and duration.
- Offboarding: immediate revocation of rights on the employee’s or contractor’s last day.
- Quarterly review: verification of all active users, roles, and integrations (ads accounts, SSO, third-party services).
5. Incident Readiness
Even with strong protection, an incident response plan is essential.
Establish a clear “response map” in case of account compromise:
- Revoke all tokens and active sessions.
- Restore control through backup administrators.
- Change passwords and re-enable 2FA.
- Notify the platform’s support team and document the incident.
- If necessary, issue a public notice with brief guidance for your audience.
Additionally, use a “second-channel confirmation rule” — all critical changes must be verified through an independent channel (e.g., phone or video call) with a pre-approved contact.
6. Common Mistakes to Avoid
🚫 A single shared admin login
🚫 No backup administrators
🚫 SMS as the only authentication method
🚫 Passwords stored in spreadsheets or messengers
🚫 Unrevoked contractor access after project completion
🚫 No recovery procedures or assigned responsible person
7. Role of the Digital Resilience Association
The Digital Resilience Association (DRA) helps organizations implement brand cybersecurity standards, including:
- auditing existing settings and roles,
- developing access management policies,
- training marketing and IT teams,
- providing consulting on secure work with social platforms.
Conclusion
A well-structured access and backup model makes corporate pages resilient to targeted attacks, human errors, and technical failures.
A secure brand account is not just protection of reputation — it is the foundation of digital trust.