Security

All NKU-affiliated social media accounts must be owned by a faculty or staff member and registered with NKU's Office of Marketing & Communications. For security, social media accounts should be managed by at least two accountable employees. A student may be enlisted to assist in account management but should not have the highest level (admin) rights to the accounts.

Register Your Social Media Account

In the case of a new hire or transfer of social media responsibilities, please provide an accurate list of usernames and passwords. It’s a good practice to ensure that the new person assuming those responsibilities is able to fully access each social media channel without trouble. 

When a new person isn’t available to take over the accounts, designated back-up social media coordinators or direct supervisors should already have access to those accounts. This allows the transfer of power to go smoothly, and there won’t be concerns about being locked out of accounts. 

Effective password management is crucial for both the security of the user and NKU.  It is important to keep your password private and change it on a regular basis. Password encroachment technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and everyone can be vulnerable to this sort of crime.  If you suspect your password has been compromised, change it immediately.

Follow these password best practices:

• Never reveal your passwords to others.
• Use different passwords for different accounts, even your email account linked to your social media accounts. That way, if one account is compromised, the others won’t be at risk.
• NKU passwords must be at least eight characters long.
• Passwords must contain at least three of the following characters:
  • Uppercase letter.
  • Lowercase letter.
  • Number.
  • Special character (~!@#$%^&*)
• Your password cannot include your username or any part of your name. 
• Your password cannot be reused.

Inactive/unmonitored accounts: Maintain a consistent presence across all of your social channels. Hackers can target unmonitored accounts and begin posting fraudulent content as your area of campus.

Take actions to remove inactive accounts:

• How to unpublish a Facebook page.
• How to disable an Instagram account.
• How to temporarily deactivate an X account.
• How to delete or hide a YouTube channel.

Should your account become compromised, follow the below steps:

1. Immediately change passwords.
2. Report the issue via the help section of the social network where the incident occurred.
3. Notify NKU's Office of Marketing & Communications.
4. Acknowledge the incident via your other channels as soon as possible, if applicable, and let them know you are working to rectify the issue.
5. Respond to and thank any members of your network who may have initially reported the issue.
6. Remove any posts or comments during compromised use.