IMPROVING FACEBOOK SECURITY

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8 ways to fortify Facebook security

Users should visit their account settings to set who sees what

 

   As Facebook becomes the window to the Web for its more than 500 million users, the security of the social network has never been a hotter topic. While it can be hard to make a Facebook account completely hack-proof, you can do a lot. Here are eight Facebook settings that you can check now:  (click below to read more)

  

1. Who can see what?    Your first stop should be your privacy settings, which you can get to under “Account” at the top right of any page.    Here, make sure you’re using a set of custom settings. Click “Customize settings” under the grid on that page to see who can see which parts of your Facebook profile.    Unless you use your Facebook account as a completely public page, every single one of these options should at least be set to “Friends Only.” From there, you can make each setting more specific, keeping your photos hidden from certain people, for example.                        

2. Place your friends in lists    To make the previous tip more powerful, place your Facebook friends in lists. If you begin to define lists such as Co-workers, Best Friends, Employees, Students, etc., you can set each of your settings to be visible or not visible to a whole list of people.    To do this, go to “Edit Friends” under the Account menu. Type in friends’ names to add them to a list. Then make sure that only your best friends, for example, can see the photos you post. Or make sure that your students or employees don’t see your status updates.    You also can add a friend to a list as you accept their friend request.     

3. Who can find you?    Facebook also allows you to set what people see if they’re not your friend. Under privacy settings, click “View Settings” under the “Connecting on Facebook” setting at the top of the page.    Here, you can set what people see when they search for you on Facebook.    Pay special attention to the bottom option, which allows you to set who can see what you “like” on Facebook. Many don’t realize that by default this option is set to show everyone what you like.    Don’t want that future employer to know you “like” skipping class? This is a good thing to check.     

4. Browse Facebook securely    One of Facebook’s most vulnerable features is that much of your browsing is done without a secure connection to the website. Hackers have exploited this hole by accessing your personal information if you use Facebook on a public or unsecured Wi-Fi network.    In your account settings, choose Account Security . There’s a check box there to enable secure browsing whenever possible. Check that.    You’ll soon see that Facebook will use “https://” instead of “ http://.”   That’s how you know you’re more secure.    

5. Who is logging in as you?    One of Facebook’s greatest security features is the ability to individually approve each computer or mobile device that logs into your account.    You can name each computer you use Facebook with (work, home, laptop, iPhone, etc.).    To turn this on, go to your account settings, click on “Account Security” and choose that you want an e-mail or text message when someone tries to log in from a computer that isn’t one you’ve approved.    Here, you can also see all the open sessions of Facebook tied to your account. Someone logging in from five states away? Click “end activity,” and they’ll be stopped in their tracks.    

6. Which apps know you?    As we have used Facebook over the years, each of us has amassed a list of applications that have access to our Facebook information.    To see which apps have access to your Facebook information, go to your privacy settings and click edit under “Apps and Websites” at the bottom left of the page.    On the next page, click edit settings next to “Apps you use.”    Here, you’ll see a list of all the apps that have your information on file. Many of them are used for convenience, such as integration with the popular Instagram photo-sharing app or commenting services on news websites. But there are certainly some you could lose.    Click the X next to any app you want to yank your information from.     

7. Even your friends’ apps know you, too    This one is even scarier. On the same app privacy page, check out the subhead that says “Info accessible through your friends.”    You may not know it, but anything your friends can see on Facebook can also be seen by any app that your friends add on Facebook — including apps that you have no idea were ever given access. To disallow this, click on edit settings and uncheck all the boxes that allow you to choose what about you can be shared with apps that your friends add. Click save.     

8. Who can post on your wall?    Facebook security has become a veritable cesspool of spam. Many of these spammy links are click-jacking schemes, which spread by posting links on a bunch of your friends’ walls.    The only foolproof way to prevent these links from gumming up your own wall is to set it so that no one can post directly on your wall. Friends still can comment on your status messages, links and photos, but can’t leave you a public note.    To change this setting, head to the customize settings area under privacy. Then uncheck the “Enable” box where it allows friends to post on your wall.