Facebook Security Tips

Facebook has released a new security guide for parents, teens and educators called (appropriately), “Guide to Facebook Security”.

The guide comes int he form of a downloadable handbook written by former Symantec Internet safety expert Linda McCarthy, Purdue University security researcher Keith Watson and teacher/editor Denise wldon-Siviy.

The guide includes tips on protecting your Facebook account, avoiding scammers, using advanced security settings, recovering from hacked Facebook accounts and stopping impostors.

“If you’re not using one-time passwords, secure browsing, or even tracking your account activity, this guide shows you how. It even explains why account thieves and malware pushers want your account,” says Facebook’s security team.

“Thanks to Facebook and Creative Commons licensing, this guide is not only fact-filled – it’s also free!” the team adds.

There is a section for top tips in the guide. Those tips are as follows:

• Only Friend people you know.
• Create a good password and use it only for Facebook.
• Don’t share your password.
• Change your password on a regular basis.  
• Share your personal information only with people and companies that need it.
• Log into Facebook only ONCE each session. If it looks like Facebook is asking you to log in a second time, skip the links and
  directly type www.facebook.com into your browser address bar.
• Use a one-time password when using someone else’s computer.
• Log out of Facebook after using someone else’s computer.
• Use secure browsing whenever possible.
• Only download Apps from sites you trust.
• Keep your anti-virus software updated.
• Keep your browser and other applications up to date.
• Don’t paste script (code) in your browser address bar.
• Use browser add-ons like Web of Trust and Firefox’s NoScript to keep your account from being hijacked.
• Beware of “goofy” posts from anyone—even Friends. If it looks like something your Friend wouldn’t post, don’t click on it.
• Scammers might hack your Friends’ accounts and send links from their accounts. Beware of enticing links coming from
  your Friends.

The whole guide can be downloaded here for free.