Protect Your Facebook Account From Hackers (2017).
If you google “how”, the first or second result will usually be “how to hack Facebook.” As you can see from the search suggestions, obviously a lot of people want to know how Facebook can be hacked.
While it is not that easy, there are many ways to hack your Facebook account. For example, some use phishing attacks, some might sneakily install keylogger apps to find out your password, some try their luck with regular passwords like 123456 or predictable passwords like phone numbers, date of birth, important dates, names, etc. So, that goes not to mention that it is important to protect your Facebook account to keep it safe.
After all, every Facebook account contains as much personal information as your messages, photos, and other things that could lead to disaster if it falls into the wrong hands or if the information becomes public. To deal with this, here are some simple yet effective tips to help protect your Facebook account.
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Protect your Facebook account from hackers
1. Enable two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect your Facebook account from unauthorized access. When you enable two-factor authentication, you need to enter a time-sensitive code that is sent to or generated by your mobile phone along with your regular account password. Without the generated time-sensitive code, no one will be able to access your account even with the correct password.
1. To enable two-factor authentication, log in to your Facebook account and go to Settings Security and Login.
2. Scroll down and expand the Use Two-Factor Authentication menu in the Advanced Security Setup section. Turn on two-factor authentication by clicking the “Enable” button, select the “Text message” option and follow the instructions in the wizard.
2. Enable email or SMS notifications
This is a great way to find out if suspicious activity is happening on your Facebook account. To receive email or SMS notifications, follow these steps.
1. Log in to your Facebook account and go to Settings Security and Login.
2. Scroll down and expand Advanced Security Configuration. Now click on “Receive alerts for unrecognized logins” and enable email or SMS notifications. After turning on. click the “Save Changes” button.
Note. If you haven’t added a mobile phone number or email address yet, you’ll need to add them to receive notifications. To do this, click “Add another email address or mobile phone number.”
3. A security question
Ask a good security question that isn’t easy to guess. Even your close friends shouldn’t have to guess the answer to your secret question.
The bad guys change your security question. When they need to log in, they click the “forget password” link, answer security questions to log into their Facebook account. Therefore, always use strong security questions and answers to avoid hacking.
4. Close active sessions
If you do not manually click on the logout link on your Facebook account, you will be signed in even when you close your browser. Under some circumstances, hackers can hijack browser cookies and use them to hack into your Facebook account. Therefore, it is always a good idea to close an active session on a device if you do not plan to log in for a long time or if this is not your system. In addition, you should periodically check and close active sessions to ensure that you are not logged out of your account on another system or on your smartphone.
To close active sessions, select Settings and then Security & Login. In the right pane, you can see all the places where you are logged in, as well as other details such as date and time. To close an active session, click the Menu icon (three vertical dots) and select the Exit option.
If you do not remember logging in from a specific device from the list and suspect that you have been jailbroken, select the “Aren’t you?” and follow the displayed steps to secure your account.
5. Check the URL
Check the URL in the address bar and only log in if it says https://www.facebook.com. Often, hackers use fake login pages (called phishing attacks) to trick you into providing a login username and password. So, get in the habit of validating the URL before logging in.
Read: 5 Creative Ways to Download Facebook Videos
6. Use a strong and unique password
Choose a unique, strong and long password for your Facebook account. Never use your phone number, date of birth, character names, etc. as a password. They are easy to guess, even if you use special characters in them. If you think it is difficult to remember long and unique passwords with special characters, use a good password manager like LastPass. Also, change your Facebook password from time to time, especially if you spot suspicious activity on your wall. Don’t share your username and password with anyone, not even your friends and family.
7. Use a private browser
If you are logging in from anywhere other than your trusted device, it is best to open your Facebook page in a private browsing window (an incognito window if you are using Chrome). The nice thing about Private Browsing is that it doesn’t store your username, password, or any other information. Therefore, you do not need to worry about logging out, you can simply close the window. That being said, it’s always a good idea to log out when you’re done using Facebook, just make it a habit.
Check out this guide to learn how to enable private browsing in different browsers.
8. Stay informed
Don’t add people you don’t know. Especially if the profile seems suspicious or fake. Most likely, they are spammers or hackers who want to get your personal information.
Also, don’t trust all third party Facebook apps. Some of them may be spam or their main purpose is to gain access to as much personal information as possible. Only use apps that you trust or are very popular.
For more information, read the Facebook security page.
What to do if your Facebook account has been hacked?
The first thing to do is check if you can log in with your password. If you are able to log in, immediately change your account password and delete any messages and messages that were not posted by you. Then inform all the friends on your friends list about the hack and ask them to ignore any messages sent to them in the last few days. Also advise them not to follow the links you have sent yet. These links can redirect them to a malicious website and also compromise their account.
When you’re done with all of this, follow all the tips above to protect your Facebook account from future hacking attempts.
If you are unable to log in with your old username and password, please go to this dedicated Facebook page and file a complaint. The Facebook team will be able to temporarily block and restore your account in no time. If that didn’t work, or if you want the profile to be deleted or blocked on Facebook, you can ask your friends to report this profile to Facebook. The more people report a profile, the faster it will be blocked / deleted.
Always add an additional email and / or mobile number to your Facebook account. This will come in handy as Facebook will send you a password reset link or any other instructions to help you recover your account.
Also read: What Happens to Facebook, Twitter, Google Accounts After You Die