Beware of the Facebook Account Hackers

I was checking my facebook profile last week when this message saying hackers finding new ways of hacking the accounts of the users caught my attention. So I checked my settings, reset them, changed the user id and password as per the specifications. I still wanted to find out more. So i just googled the words, facebook hacking on Google and was shocked to find out many links that provided ways to successfully hack peoples facebook accounts, boasting of a guaranteed access to other persons account.

 Even to think that there are people who are very interested in viewing the details of the other person gives me a sickening feeling. And these people are most of the times on the friend’s list or acquaintance list of that person’s facebook account. This shows the level of intolerance growing among us. Even greater is the surprise to know that the hackers have so much free time to kill. The value of privacy, dignity and relationships is on a decline. Nevertheless, those of us whose accounts have not been hacked yet, have to continue protecting them, guarding them from the robbers, the hackers.

A few simple steps like,

Never click on the link which asks you to enter your user id and password to log in and claim the gift.

Never enter your log in id and password to the link which says your email account or your facebook account has been compromised. This link will prompt you to enter the user id and password. You can directly go to the sign in page of your email account or facebook account and try entering the user id and password there. If there is a problem with your account you will get information to the sign in page itself.

Hiding your email id and date of birth details from the profile page saves the account from being hacked most of the time. Mail id and date of birth are the 2 most essential pieces of information hackers need.

Following the safe route of a password with more than 8 characters, and with a combination of numbers and alphabets, capital and small and use of special characters like $,&,\,/ is always helpful.

For example, Vidya can be typed as, \/1DYa _ 0/\/\ (VIDYA_ OM) which cannot be hacked by the tools used by the hackers.

Choosing the secure browsing mode while using facebook limits the other external apps from harming your profile.

Facebook also offers its users the option of entering a security code every time a user tries to log in from an unknown device. The security code is privy to the user and hence helps keep the hackers at bay.

Always uncheck the option which says ‘keep me logged in’. This makes sure you have to enter your user id and password every time you want to log in.

It is always advisable to log out after accessing facebook every time.

Upgrading the browser to the latest version is a sure shot way to keep away from the phishing sites as the browser will always warn while navigating to an unknown or suspected phishing site.

So let us outsmart the hackers!!