If you login to your Facebook account from various devices like computer, mobile, laptop at your home, office or Internet, etc., then there may be a chance that you will leave your Facebook account without logout. This may lead to the hacking of your account. If your account is accessed by strangers then they may see your information and they may misuse it. So you need to prevent unwanted access to your account.
But what to do if your Facebook account has been hacked? Go to www.facebook.com/hacked and follow the instructions. Here you will have three options.1. You have to verify your account then change your password OR It will ask you to identify your account OR Use email notifications to change your account password.2. Review your account and fix it if any information is changed.3. Unlock your account.
Hackers always look at the loopholes and try to make advantage of them and grab your information. Hackers think Facebook as a primary source for hacking. So you need to give maximum protection to your Facebook account. In this article, I’m listing some of the basic Security tips to protect the Facebook account from Hackers.
1. Create A Strong Password
The password is important for every account. So, you need to create a strong password for your FB account. Try to create your password with a combination of Small letters, capital letters, numbers and symbols (But no spaces). Try to change your password on a regular basis. Avoid sharing your password with your friends, colleagues, and others. Don’t allow your browser to Remember the Password of your account. Make sure that you have more no.of characters in your Password. More the no.of characters better the password. To change your Account password to Home→ Account settings→ General→ Password→Edit
Give the current password and update your account password with a new one.
2. Enable secure Browsing
Secure browsing is another best way to protect your account from hackers. By turning on secure browsing, you can prevent your account from applications that are integrated with Facebook to access your information without your permission. All your account information is encrypted so hackers are unable to take the information that you sent and receive.
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After turning on Secure browsing, you will notice that your Facebook link will change from http://www.facebook.com to https://www.facebook.com. HTTPS is a secure connection used to protect sensitive information. To enable secure browsing
Go to Home→ Settings→ Security→ Secure browsing
Now click on the Edit button. A new pop up window will appear.
Make sure that there is a tick next to the option Browse Facebook on a secure connection and Click on save changes.
3.End active sessions
Facebook has an extended feature called Active Sessions which tells you about your last active sessions and the types of devices that you used to access your Facebook account. If you find any other device or location other than your current location then you are at risk. So all you need to do is just disconnect your active sessions except your current one. To kill your previous active sessions to Home→ Settings→ Security→ Active sessions
Now click on Edit option. It will open a new pop up window which gives all your previous active sessions (location, device type) along with your current session.
Just click on the End Activity option to remove all your previous active sessions. And also make sure that your login notifications are enabled. Once it is enabled, you will get notifications direct to your mobile.
4.Check the URL
The most commonly used Facebook Hacking trick is a Phishing attack(or) A hacker can get your information when you click on some of the fake apps/links. Hackers provide you fake Facebook links with an attractive titles. So once you click on the link, it will open a fake Facebook login page which looks like an actual Facebook login page and asks you to log in to Facebook. If you log in through their links then you are under their control.
To avoid this, we always look at the URL. A fake Facebook login page can be identified with the help of its URL. Hackers can duplicate the actual Facebook login page, but they are unable to use the Actual Facebook URL. So when Facebook asks you to re-login to your account you must look at its URL. If it is www.facebook.com then okay! If the URL is something other than www.facebook.com (see above image) then don’t give your account details. You must avoid fake links to protect your Facebook account.
5 .Add a phone
You can add your phone to your Facebook account. It helps you to reset your password. If you forgot your password you can get a new one via SMS so that you can reset your password. Mobile notifications are another best way to protect your account. To add Mobile number to your account to Home→ Account Settings→ Mobile→ Add a phone
Now follow the instructions to add your mobile number to your Facebook account.
6.Login Approvals
Login approvals is another best feature by Facebook to protect your account. If this option enabled then you will receive a secret code on your mobile. You have to enter this security every time when you log in to your account from unrecognized devices. To active login approvals for your account to Home→ Account settings→ Security→ Login approvals→ Edit.
Just follow the simple instructions by Facebook to activate Login approvals.
7.Avoid suspicious apps
We all know about Facebook apps. Right! Most of the Facebook apps ask for accessing your personal information. And most of them are trusted. They use your personal information to promote their app via your wall. But there are some Facebook apps specially designed to access your personal information. So if you get Request from any app then you must ensure that they are asking to access your account is reputable or not? And the app is from the person/company that you trust. If you find the app is suspicious, don’t give permission and try to avoid unknown links and apps.
8. Don’t friend everyone
I suggest you avoid friend requests from unknown persons. Try to avoid requests from persons who don’t have any profile pic and also the person having no common friends with you. Because most of them are fake friend requests.
9.Private Browsing
Private browsing is another best way to prevent hackers to access your Facebook account. All browsers have a ‘Private browsing’ feature. So if you activate private browsing in your browsers, your activity will not be stored in the browsing history. To Activate private browsing
For Mozilla Firefox: Tools→ Start Private Browsing (ctrl +shift +p)
For Google Chrome: File→New incognito window (ctrl+shift+N)
For Safari Browser: Safari→ Private Browsing
And when Facebook asked for your username and password, you can also see a checkbox with ‘Keep me logged in’. You must uncheck that option.
10.Logout your account
I suggest you log out of your Facebook account after use. It is an important thing that you should never forget. It is the most common mistake done by Facebook users. So always log out your account. These are the Top 10 tips to protect Facebook from hackers. If you find this article informative, share this article with your friends so that they can also learn these tips and protect their Facebook account.