How To Improve Security on Facebook Tips

 

Facebook has become a popular hang-out spot for online hackers, as they take advantage of the ignorance of naive users, many of whom will quite happily click on anything that is posted on their Facebook wall

 

As a reader of Tech Support Alert, hopefully you're a bit more tech-savvy than that.  But people DO click on virus-ridden links – mainly because it appears to have been posted by one of their friends! “Easy-to-remember” passwords are also STILL created by Facebook users, which is like an open invitation to even the most amateur “wet behind the ears” hacker.

 

Alas, this leads to slow computers, online identities being stolen, or even your hard-earned cash being nabbed by some sort of shadowy online criminal mastermind! In reality, it is fairly simple with basic commercially available Password Recovery Toolkits capable of testing hundreds of thousands of passwords per second.

 

To help you stay safe online, here are my 5 top tips to keep your Facebook profile safe:

1. Keep your anti-virus up to date by downloading the latest updates, or making sure that the software is correctly configured to download updates automatically and regularly.  Use a well-known product from a respected company.  There's nothing wrong with using free software, but make sure it's from a company that you've heard of, or read about, and don't simply trust what the company says on its own web site.
    
2. Run anti-virus software every couple of days. It isn’t too hard to click that ‘Run scan’ button is it?
    
3. Use a mixture of letters, 2 numbers and symbols to create a hard-to-guess password. Maybe use the first letters from a line from a song...what do you mean you listen to instrumental tracks? You must know at least one song with lyrics, surely?!
    
4. Don’t accept any friend requests from strangers. Please don’t be influenced by beauty or washboard abs etc. It’s a trick to bamboozle you with good looks to get you to accept the request. While not a virus, it can be a hacker looking for clues, or a seedy old man sitting at home.
    
5. Is Facebook emailing you about a reset password? It's probably a scam.  Ignore and delete.
    

These 5 tips should keep your Facebook profile (or page) as safe as an online Fort Knox. But if you fear that you have been infected, then immediately change your password and promptly run a full virus/malware scan – which should quickly remove any problems.