Hey guys. So as you may already have known, Facebook became aware of a major data breach on its platform about a week ago.
The breach followed some vulnerabilities that allowed malicious individuals to steal the access tokens - and consequently, login and personal details- of Facebook users, forcing the company to force-logout about 90 million users who may have been affected by the attack. This doesn’t help much though, as the vulnerability has existed since July 2017.
But then, if you use Facebook, here are three things you should do to keep your account(s) safe:
- Review the devices that have “Authorized Login” to your account, and also the location(s) where you are currently logged in from. Do this and boot out any unfamiliar device that you may find.
Go to Settings and Security and Login or simply click on the link below to do this.
https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=security§ion=authorized_logins&view
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Change your password. Change the password to your account, but even more importantly, if you have used the same password on any other platform before, say Gmail, then go change the password on that platform. There is a high chance that hackers would sell these details on the deep web, posing threats to much more than just the Facebook platform and “Facebook users.”
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Enable Two-Factor Authentication. This gives you more control over who can log into your account by requiring a one-time code which is sent to your phone for extra verification.
You can enable 2-FA here https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=security&view
Add-on: Change your settings to “Get alerts about unrecognized logins” into your account, this way you are easily notified of all potential unauthorized access.
You can do this under Security and Login still.
PS: The last time you visited Facebook may have been two years ago, but if you have that account connected to Instagram, or use that password somewhere else, then you are potentially at risk also. So please do the above.