FACEBOOK: How to protect yourself (Part2)

"Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common." Satchel Paige

My Facebook Account has been hacked! How did that happen?

When someone says his FACEBOOK account has been hacked he is saying one of two things

1. Someone has obtained his FACEBOOK login details (email and password)
2. Someone has created a FACEBOOK page meant to look like his using details gleaned from an unprotected page.

We will deal with item 2 next week on a post dealing specifically with configuring your privacy settings properly.

So how is it that someone could obtain the email and password you use to login to FACEBOOK?

1. Someone gained access to your PC and used tools to obtain data you asked your browser to memorize (Saved User Names and Passwords), something many people do make logging in to their account easy.
2. Someone who knows you and already has your email account "Guesses" your password.
3. You left your email account details open to everyone in FACEBOOK and someone Guesses" your password.
4. Someone has used a software tool to obtain your unprotected email details and uses software to generate thousands of passwords until they find one that works. Some people actually offer FACEBOOK hacking services.

Example of a Facebook Hacking Service Advertising on the web (Sterilized of course)

Now the first item is NOT going to happen if you limit access to your PC, Use a login password which is not easy to guess and follow precautions which prevent your computer from being infected by password stealing malware. Most FACBOOK accounts get hacked because your privacy settings allowed access to your email account details, the password used was not complex enough or you gave access to your private account details to a rogue FACEBOOK application or game (See my last post).

While doing my research of the top 1000 passwords used by computer users, I discovered that way too many people use passwords which are extremely easy to break into. As an example, I refer to this one website that lists what they believe are the top 20 passwords used. In a word, the results of my research were frightening.

Using a password of "Password" may be cute but it is on that list, with a capital P, as if that made it hard to guess. A numeric password of "123456" isn't going to be safe for you either. I won't list them all so read the list for yourself at this website. If you are using some or all or part of your first name, last name in your password you had better change that as well.

In order to maximize safety and minimize exposure, you need to use a complex or strong password which keeps you from being an easy target.

So what are the traits of a "Complex or Strong Password"?:
A. Use at least 8 digits (Mine is over 10 digits long)
B. Use at least 1 special character ( For example *, &, $ or +)
C. Use at least one capital letter
D. Use at least one lower case letter
E. Use at least one number

At the end of this Post, you will find a link to FREE software tool that helps generate and securely store strong or complex passwords.

NEXT WEEK: How to configure your privacy settings for maximum protection

Here is a little more on using Strong or Complex Passwords


And a bit more. Protecting Passwords is becoming big business


And some more. A FREE tool you can download and use to generate and securely save passwords.