Technology
How hackers are defacing Facebook walls
The most common reason for hackers to breach Facebook users’ accounts is so that they can spread scams and send false offers to the member’s friends in an attempt to sell counterfeit goods and benefit financially.
Posted Sunday, November 20 2011 at 10:06
Increasingly, more people are also duped into sharing their login details on fake sites, a process called phishing, which gives hackers access to passwords and email accounts.
Be careful where you log in. Using an unfamiliar computer or network with insufficient Internet security can leave you and your personal information vulnerable to third-party discovery.
Ensure you have maximum security on your account. If you have any linked accounts such as Google or Yahoo!, remove them, as these automatically log you into Facebook whenever you log into them.
If your Facebook settings aren’t airtight or you doubt them, check out PrivacyDefender at http://privacydefender.net/, the free Facebook application.
PrivacyDefender is an easy to use tool that automatically configures your Facebook privacy settings. All you need to do is select your desired level of privacy protection and PrivacyDefender does the rest.
The social network is rolling out some new features in an attempt to further protect Facebook users’ security.
‘Trusted Friends’ is a tool which will allow users to nominate three to five ‘trusted friends’ to be sent login codes if a person is locked out of their account, having had their password changed by a hacker.
But common sense and gut feelings are not equal to any security measures.
Sam Wambugu is a monitoring and evaluation specialist. Samwambugu@gmail.com
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