Over time there have been reports of Facebook security breaches and so many accounts have been hacked and pornographic contents have been shared on user’s profile pages, the recent security breaches on Facebook has given users concerns for their safety.
Note: There are two ways your account could get compromised, it’s either it’s your fault or Facebook’s. But while Facebook will be busy trying to fix such mistakes from their own end you as the user should also ensure some safety measures to secure your Facebook account and that is the essence of this article, to show you how you can secure your Facebook account from intruders and hackers.
Facebook is the number 1 social media website in the world and millions of users like you and I use it every day to share information and to socialize, sometimes sensitive information are shared via this medium and so ensuring out account’s safety is very important. Now let’s see how to keep our Facebook account safe…
Facebook Security Tips:
Use Strong Password: Your password is your first line of defense against invaders and intruders so you must ensure to create a very strong password for your Facebook account. Using simple names as password is not a good practice, try and create a password mixed up with upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols. Go to Account Settings > General > Password and change your password now to a stronger one if you want to keep your Facebook account safe from hackers.
Confirm your Phone Number on Facebook: Confirming your phone number on Facebook will help you enhance your account security on Facebook. This will help you stop anyone from changing your password on Facebook because Facebook will send you a new one only on the mobile number you added to your account. To add your phone number to Facebook, go to Account Settings > Mobile and click on Add a phone, select your country and choose your mobile carrier and click next. A confirmation code will be sent to your phone via SMS, enter it on the field where it is required on Facebook to confirm your mobile number. You will always find it useful any time you want to reactivate your account.
Always Log out after use: Always log out your Facebook account immediately after use except it’s your personal computer. Most people whose accounts have been compromised may have forgotten to log out their accounts after using a shared computer.
Secure your email: Your email is yet another way your Facebook account can be breached. If your email address is compromised, someone can request for your Facebook password to be sent to your compromised email and from there your Facebook account can be compromised. Use strong password for your email address and also remember to log out immediately after use especially when you use a shared PC.
Use Up-to-date Antivirus: Ensure your computer antivirus program is always up-to-date so as to prevent viruses or malwares from stealing your sensitive personal information that can be used to compromise your account. Such malicious programs can steal your valid cookies and stored passwords stored on your browser, so the only way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to always update your computer’s antivirus program.
Avoid the ’Keep Me Logged In’ Checkbox: Always avoid the keep me logged in checkbox on the login page of Facebook, ensure it is unchecked before you login to your Facebook account, especially if you are using a shared computer.
Activate Login Approvals and Login Notifications: Turning on your Facebook account’s login notification and login approval will give your account an extra security, each time you try to login to your Facebook account from another computer or mobile, you will be required to enter a special login code. Go to Security Settings page and click on Login Approvals/ Login Notification, check the box and save changes.
Note: You need to add your mobile number to receive notifications or the special login codes.
Add Security Question: Add a security question that only you know the answer to your Facebook account. This will help you verify your account if you ever lose access to your account. To add a security question go to Account Settings > Security > Security Question.
Do not give anyone your Password: Do not share your password with anyone; your account should always remain private. Keep your Facebook Password to yourself alone!
Must Read: How to stop being unnecessarily tagged on photos on Facebook
Conclusion:
Keeping your Facebook account safe is mostly in your hands as Facebook has invested a lot of money trying to secure their business, the rest is on you to protect your account. If you follow all the guides listed above, be sure your Facebook account will not be easily compromised. Always remember there are people out there working day and night trying to gain access to our private information, let’s not make it any easy for them.
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Hello Mavtrevor,
You really rolled out some great ways of protecting our facebook account which is great. I don’t log out my account anytime i use my facebook account because i don’t browse with shared pc’s.. facebook is one great social network that we need to keep secured. thanks for this post and have a great weekend ahead
Very nice post. Now a days Facebook is not so secure. We are always around spammers and hackers. So your post will surely help. I like your points that says about security questions and notifications. Thanks. :)
Thanks for your compliment and do have a nice weekend as well….
Am glad you found it useful….keeping our Facebook accounts secure is very vital if we want to protect our information and friends.
HI Nwosu
These are the great tips to secure facebook from being hacked. I think use of strong passwords is the key and also if one is using the shared PC then logging out from facebook along with keeping unchecked the option “keep me logged..” saves a lot from the hell.
Thanks for sharing this great post and have a great week ahead.
Sapna
Great post about security tips as i have updated some tips for my facebook account yet to try out rest sure more useful for facebook users.
Am glad you found it useful….keeping our Facebook accounts safe should be very important if we are to keep our private data and friends safe.
Thanks for your comment….i hope you visit more.
hey desmond, this is a well researched and detailed article. Thanks for sharing these facebook security tips..
Thanks for your comment..i hope you visit more.
I really wonder how easy it is to compromise security. Having strong password is the first step and it is really important that you don’t mark ‘keep me logged in’. I’ve seen many friends in Office computers leaving their Facebook account even when they are not in desk. Though that is not public computers but I always get enough time if I wish to share really bad messages through their account. Its really important to spread the awareness.
Following these guides can help such folks protect their accounts….its now left for you to advise them. Thanks for your comment.
I like this post and your tips!
1) We should avoid using softwares which ask us to enter our Facebook password to add FB credits to unlock extra content on games.
2) And we should never click “Remember Password” if we use it in a shared PC.
Thank you for adding especially the number option. such software programs or games can steal our details.
My facebook account was hacked 2 weeks ago , but now I get it back now I will surely make it safer based on your tips and advices thanks for sharing bro !
The internet is indeed saturated with lots of hackers. Having a strong password is of course very paramount.
Am glad you were able to get it back and surely these guide will help you protect your Facebook account from hackers.
Of course its very important to safeguard one’s Facebook account…
Helpful tips here Nwosu. I am a big fan of setting up strong passwords. Somebody will have to be brilliant or insane to guess these words ;)
Go above and beyond, be smart and use these tips, and you should be immune from hack jobs.
Thanks!
Ryan
Thanks Ryan for your comment…
Nice share bud!
One of my friends’ fb account got hacked recently. I tried to access it from a cybecafe (Internet center/hub) and i think someone had installed a keylogger or some kind of script which can read the letters punched in… And his account was hacked and the hacker started posting threats and porn on his account.
Eventually he had to contact fb support to get the account re-instated and then he didn’t access it from any other computer other that his own.
Am glad to hear he was able to get it back, i hope he applies the guides here to protect his account even further…
I would ask him to send me the details of how he got his account re-instated. That might help a lot here…:P
Hey Nwosu
Your tips are certainly great and could help someone to stay safe. I have enabled the https connection and uses recognize device.
Thanks for sharing them with us, would love to hear from you soon.
Keep up the good work and have a great day ahead.
Ashish Kumar
Glad you found the article interesting….you are always welcome
Hi Nwosu,
Facebook is one of my favorite social networking sites. I have activated login approval and notification. I have also updated my antivirus. Thanks for sharing the tips for keeping facebook account safe from the hand of hackers.