Facebook issues Guide to Security

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Facebook has launched a security guide for users as it looks to curb the number of successful attacks on the site.

The Guide to Facebook Security features 14 pages of advice, covering everything from phishing and clickjacking, to how to recover a hacked account.

Unlike the insanely horrible email scams written in poor English by scammers, most of the fake Facebook login screens are pretty believable.

Facebook described the document as “fun to read and easy to understand,” although beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

“We explain how to protect your account, avoid scammers, and configure advanced security settings,” Facebook explained in a note to users.

“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.”

People power

Facebook was keen to make the point that users were just as responsible for security as the people running the website.

“Just as a city paints sidewalks, and pedestrians look both ways before crossing the street, security on Facebook is a responsibility shared between Facebook and the people who use its platform,” the report read.

It also admitted scams were harder to identify on Facebook, when compared to email tricks.

“On Facebook, identifying scams is trickier since messages appear to be coming from people you know and trust,” the report read.

“Unlike the insanely horrible email scams written in poor English by scammers, most of the fake Facebook login screens are pretty believable.”

Facebook also warned users to look out for the perennially pesky ‘who’s been looking at your profile’ scam.

“This enticing scam tries to trick you into pasting text into your browser address bar,” Facebook explained.

“The ‘unique code’ shown above is the malicious script. While you’re being patient as instructed, the script is setting up your profile to spam all of your Friends. In response to detecting these kind of attacks, Facebook added checks to help detect scripts being pasted into the address bar.”

Earlier this week, a 25-year-old male from York appeared in court accused of breaking through Facebook’s security defences.

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