How To Protect Your Facebook Account From Hackers
Recovering a hacked Facebook account is a long and frustrating process. It’s always easier to proactively protect your account against hackers and scammers.
Here’s how to secure your Facebook account before it gets hacked:
- Use strong, unique passwords for all of your online accounts. Set up a password manager to generate strong passwords. Aura’s password manager will warn you if your account is vulnerable or has been compromised in a recent data breach.
- Enable 2FA on all sensitive accounts. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your Facebook, banking, and email accounts. Don’t rely on SMS for receiving 2FA codes as they can be intercepted or hacked. Instead, use an authenticator app such as Google authenticator or Microsoft authenticator.
- Disable third-party apps that are connected to your Facebook account. This way, if hackers muscle into your account, they won’t have immediate access to other personal accounts and apps. Visit Settings & Privacy, continue to Settings, and then click on Apps and Websites on the menu to the left.
- Set up alerts for unrecognized login attempts. Under Setting up extra security in your Settings & Privacy menu, you can turn on alerts that will notify you whenever someone signs in to your account using a new device or browser.
- Remove any payment methods that are linked to your account. While these features are convenient, they present a security risk if your account gets hacked.
- Add a backup email address to your account. If you ever need to recover your account, having an extra email address linked will help you find your account more easily. You’ll also get security notifications sent to more than one place, which increases the chances that you’ll get those alerts in time to take action.
- Be careful what you post. Limit the amount of personal information that you share on Facebook, especially when it comes to private details including your phone number, home address, hometown, and family members.
- Tighten up the privacy settings on your Facebook account. Choose the strictest security options wherever possible, and take advantage of Facebook’s Privacy checkup feature to get a full picture of your account’s overall security status.
- Install antivirus software and a virtual private network (VPN) to protect your device at all times from malware, spyware, and hackers.
- Use Aura’s free Dark Web scanner to see if your account logins have been compromised. Aura scans recent data breaches and Dark Web sites and forums for your personal information.
