Weston, FL, Recovers Deleted Content from Hacked Social Media Account with CivicPlus® Social Media Archiving Software

The role of communication in today’s environment has changed. The accelerated pace of digital transformation is requiring public entities to cement their presence on social media. But as more people rely on these major networks as a source of information, communicators must ensure the truth spreads faster than lies as they race against a rise of digital misinformation and online trolls. So, what’s the last thing you want to see as a communicator when you log in to your agency’s account? That you’ve been hacked. But that’s exactly what happened to Denise Miller, Director of Communications, and Pam Solomon, Assistant Director for Communications for the City of Weston, Florida.

The City’s Journey to Recovery from a Social Media Hack

The City of Weston already had an established X (formerly Twitter) presence, and in January 2020, it launched Facebook and Instagram. Although the City had only been on these platforms for a couple of months, with hard work and a young audience interested in social media, its Facebook and Instagram accounts quickly blossomed and became the source of information for their community.

The Support of a Technology and Compliance Partner

For six days, the City of Weston didn’t have control over its Instagram account as the team attempted every method to get help from Facebook but never heard back.

“We thought we could just contact Facebook or Instagram, and they would fix it – but no – it’s not that easy with huge digital media companies to get an immediate response,” said Solomon.

So, as a customer of CivicPlus (formerly ArchiveSocial), they decided to reach out.

“It was nice to know there are people out there you can reach out to and hear a friendly voice because we were a boat adrift,” said Miller.

The CivicPlus team quickly provided Miller and Solomon with suggestions for who to contact and what to do. However, once they got through to Facebook, they were told their feed could not be restored due to legal reasons.

Luckily, CivicPlus ensured Miller and Solomon that they still had a record of their feed prior to the hack, and all of their deleted content was backed up in their social media archive.

Social Media Content Recovery

Miller and Solomon finally regained control of their account after six days. They then promptly updated the email associated with their account and reset their password. They also set up two-factor authentication (2FA), something they had not done before.

Unfortunately, the City had to start its presence on Instagram again.

“When we got scammed it was kind of devastating — to not be able to get back what we had lost, it was very disappointing,” said Miller.

But thanks to CivicPlus, the City could still access their deleted content and remain compliant with public records laws, allowing them to respond to a records request.

Social Media Protection Advice

• Secure your accounts. Take the appropriate precautions to ensure your accounts are secure, such as not sharing passwords and ensuring everyone has 2FA set up.

• Don’t let your guard down. It’s easy to get laid back with social media when you’re busy. But you should always be cautious, read everything carefully, and train your staff on phishing and fraud. A social media hack can happen to anybody.

• Don’t jeopardize your presence. As an official government page, you have a reputation to maintain that you don’t want a hacking situation to undermine. With so much negativity and misinformation online, people depend on you to be a trusted news source for your community.

• It’s a good idea to archive. A comprehensive archiving tool keeps your public entity out of risk and compliant with public records laws by constantly capturing and storing your social media content in a personalized, secure archive. It can also combat decentralization among account owners and help you respond efficiently to requests of all complexity and sizes.