If you are a regular reader of Loginhelper you know that security does not end with the selection of a strong account password. The password may be the most important aspect, but there are other factors to consider. This includes making sure you are on the right site before you key in your login name and password, or protecting your email account that is connected to Facebook.
Facebook’s Security Settings can further improve your security when interacting with the social networking site. This short guide looks at all available options, and explains how to best configure the settings to protect your Facebook account.
You can load this page or click on the down arrow, select Account Settings and then Security to open the settings page.
We have seen many attacks on user account information in the past years. These kind of attacks have increased as the Internet moved forward to become everyone’s favorite pasttime, and even more than that. Attackers are still making use of phishing attacks, mostly by sending out mass mails, to steal login, financial and identity related information. A second group has moved on though and started to hack the servers and websites directly to download their databases.
With part of the user base selecting weak passwords, it is easy to parse through the database to get a list of working passwords in record time.
Good security begins with a strong password. Opinions differ a lot when it comes to the definition of strong. Most agree that users should not pick dictionary words (like apple), first or last names, teams, brands or other words that may make their way on a word list. If you are asking me, I’d say your password should at least have 12 characters, and if possible at least one upper char, one lower char, one number and one special char. Tgo5ggg3dc_rr4 would be a strong password.
Strong passwords are just the beginning though. Some websites for instance may save your password in plain text. It is a security taboo, as it provides attackers who download the site’s database with all the information they need to wreak maximum havoc on the site and its users.
That’s one of the reasons why 2-factor authentication is so important. This basically adds another log in layer to the login process. Facebook and Google make use of 2-factor authentication.
2-factor authentication
With 2-factor authentication enabled, you will receive a code on your mobile phone or device that you need to enter to complete the login process. An attacker who managed to steal your username and password, for instance with a keylogger, would not be able to log in to the site if the additional authentication step had been enabled previously.
Google users can enable 2-step verification in their Google account. This link opens the Account Settings page on the Google website
You need to click on the edit link next to 2-step verification to configure the security layer. Please note that you need to enter a mobile phone number during setup. This is the number that Google will send the codes to whenever they are needed.
I suggest you open the official announcement post over at the official Google blog site to read up on the instructions.
Facebook’s 2-factor authentication system works slightly different than Google’s. It only asks for a code if a user tries to log in from a new device. It is still important to activate it to improve the account security.
You can configure the feature here on Facebook’s Security Settings page.
Please note that you need to have a mobile phone number configured in your account to complete the setup.
Are you worried about the security of your Facebook account? That someone might guess or steal your login for instance? We have covered all the need to knows in our Facebook Login Guide that details how you can make your account more secure, and how to recover it if you have forgotten your sign in information or if someone else managed to get into your account without your approval.
The Facebook Security Quit is a short quiz to raise awareness for security related issues on the popular social networking site.
Users of the social networking site can access the quiz on this page.
Facebook earlier this year confirmed that they would improve the login process on Facebook by implementing two factor authentication. Today Facebook announced that the new feature has finally been added to the social networking site, and that all Facebook users can make use of it.
Facebook Login Approvals, that’s the official name of the feature on Facebook, protects accounts with an additional code that needs to be entered when logging into Facebook from an unregistered computer.
We have been receiving an increased amount of emails and comments of Facebook users who have difficulties logging into the popular social networking website. Our initial guide, called Facebook Login, has helped many Facebook users, but some still had difficulties despite the guidance.
We have created a PowerPoint presentation and a PDF document to better aid Facebook users log into the website. Both documents have the same contents and contain all the necessary information to fix Facebook login problems.
You can download the help documents below. We have also added them to the sidebar here at Login Helper and linked them in the original Facebook login post for greatest exposure.
Facebook is without doubt the most popular social networking website on the Internet with millions of users logging in to the site each day. It is only natural that some Facebook users experience Facebook login problems when they try to log into their Facebook profile to post status updates, see what their friends and contacts are up to and perform all the other activities that Facebook offers.
