Musings of a Manchester Drupal guy

Drupal, Open Source, Analytics, Social Media.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

My Facebook account has been hacked! What should I do now?

Facebook has revolutionised communication. The benefits have also introduced new risks. Recently I noticed my Facebook account featuring undesirable posts which I most certainly did not create. The nature of the posts related to sex sites and stalking software. There are only 3 ways in which I expect a Facebook account could be compromised.

  1. A person with access to your computer or smart phone changes your password or simply posts on your behalf.
    • Do not stay signed in at work or in public spaces
    • Assign a password to your smart phone
  2. Apps which you have granted access to your Facebook account are not trust worthy and abuse their access
    • Revoke access to any App you are not totally sure about
    • Revoke all App access if you are not sure
  3. Software cracks have been run against your login to identify your weak password
    • Reset your password

How secure is your password?

So you think your password is secure? I expect it could be hacked in minutes, hours or days by any desktop PC! Read my article on how to create a secure password and discover how long cracker software would take to break into your accounts.

Do not use the same password twice

Never use the same password for multiple networks, email addresses, banks. If you do, a hacker will follow a trail and access all manner of private information.

Notify Facebook

If you suspect your account has been hacked be sure to notify Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hacked

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