1. Picking A Strong Password :
Most of us keep short and easy to
remember passwords. But we must keep in mind that these passwords are
easy to crack too. More over our near and dear ones can also figure out
easy passwords. So we must choose out of the blue passwords and also a
combination of small and capital letter, numbers and special characters.
2. Logging Out :
I know everybody knows this. But doing
this every time is necessary to keep your Facebook account away from
being misused, especially on shared computers or public computers. Most
web browsers automatically logs us out once we close the Browser
windows, but some does not. Moreover you will not be logged out
automatically if you by mistake select “Keep Me Logged In”.
3. Use a good Antivirus Bundled with Internet Security :
Most of us use an Antivirus program. But
an antivirus does not protects us from online theft and phishing
attempts. For this you need to have internet security enabled Antivirus.
Today most of the big Antivirus companies provide an Internet Security
package in addition to the traditional Antivirus package. It is more
costly but is a must to protect you from online scams and hacks.
4. Enable Secure Browsing (HTTPS) :
The old HTTP connections are outdated
and are quite vulnerable because they do not offer encryption. So
Facebook offers the secure HTTP connection that encrypts all the data
that is sent from your computer to Facebook and vice-versa. Anyone who
gets hand on your data can not use or see it since it is encrypted. This
can be enabled through the security tab.
5. Enable Login Notifications :
This feature again should surely be
enabled because this notifies you whenever some one logs in to your
account from an unrecognized device. Facebook can notify you through a
text message on your mobile device or can send an Email informing you
about the login. Visit security tab to enable this
feature.
6. Adding A Security Question :
A security question lets you get access to your account even without a
password. The answer to the security question must be kept secret as you
keep your password. The answer should not always be true because most
of the questions are related to you and the answers would most probably
be known by your near and dear ones. So any one who knows you may be
aware of the answer. This again can be kept from the security tab. NOTE that you won’t see this if you have
already added a security question.
7. One Time Passwords :
This is the best and least known
security feature in Facebook. This allows you to get a One Time Password
to log in to your Facebook account from any computer. This password is
valid only for 20 minutes. You can get this by typing “opt” within a
message and sending it to 32665. This works in US. For other countries
see this list. This
makes logging in to a public computer or in front of any one else easy
and without having any security concerns.
8. Beware Of Phishing Pages :
Phishing was the fastest way to know
passwords of any body’s Facebook account sometime ago. But today, most
modern browsers are smart and can detect phishing pages. But still some
of them miss sometimes. Phishing page is a page that is designed similar
to the original site in looks, but it sends your login details to the
designer of the phishing page. To save yourself from phishing, always
check the URL of the page when you are entering your login details. It
should be “facebook.com”. Give special attention to the spelling too,
this is because people are smart. They will keep the URL that resembles
the original site, like “faceb00k.com” or “faccbook.com” so that you
think the page is from the original site itself.
