Hacks, Phishes and Security: Part One- Facebook and Facebook Messenger

 

Have you been ever been hacked? Received texts or emails which looked fake? Wondered how to know what's real or not? Look no further, I will cover that and many other things connected to security in this series of special posts. Let's begin this first post and talk about...

FACEBOOK  AND FACEBOOK MESSENGER
I'll begin by warning everyone to NEVER USE THE FACEBOOK MESSENGER APP. As per a December 2020 Forbes Magazine article written by Zak Doffman, "Facebook Messenger doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption by default. This isn’t some niche security setting for you to overlook, this is absolutely fundamental to the security and privacy of your information."

I can't tell you the number of times that a Facebook friend has had their account hacked. The reason for this can fall into a few categories: poor password, the person used Messenger, or they used third party apps they connected with through the Facebook app. Here are a few examples:

Any time I personally see a notification that someone messaged me on FB, I immediately check with them to see if they actually sent me something. Nine out of ten times they hadn't.

To protect your Facebook account, it is also important to go over your own personal settings. Many are hidden, and it will take a while to do, but it will be well worth it. You can follow the video below and go step-by-step through the process.

I'll close this first part with how to make a proper password. DO NOT EVER use the same password for more than one of your accounts. You can follow this infographic I created to assist you:

7 Tips to Create Strong Passwords

 

It's always been important to have strong passwords. Too many people choose their birthday, anniversary, name of a pet or easy number pattern. (Yes, there have been those using 1, 2, 3, 4 ! ) Hackers live to crack your accounts, people! A few popular apps include Facebook, Hotmail, (Microsoft is big on their attack radar) Twitter,  and Instagram. The list is endless, so before you are the next to be hacked, here are some suggestions which will provide a strong password. 

1. Do not use the same password for all your accounts.
The reason is obvious, so just don't. Period.

2. Use a mix of upper and lower case letters with numbers and symbols.
You can choose a word you will remember, but really mix things up. For example, the number 1 can be the letter I or i. The $ sign can represent an S or s. Remember, letters in a password are case-sensitive. You get the idea.

3. Do not use spaces.
Spaces are not permitted most of the time.

3. Misspell a word on purpose.
Gr8PuRr$uN = Great person

4. Never use keyboard sequences, such as QWERTY or CVBNM.
Too easy to crack, right?

5. Never enter your password into a public computer.
Hackers will love you if you do that...

6. Don't leave password hints on site accounts.
It's nobody's business but yours!

7. Use two-step authentication.
For example, when logging into your online bank account, have them text you a code to sign in.

G00b lUk, y00$3R
Good Luck, User

Right-click to download the infographic I created from the list above. It is larger than it appears on this post.