Locked out of Facebook? New Facebook security feature “Trusted Friends” could let you back in
Posted by Adriana Tayraco on Thu, Nov 03, 2011
By now many of you have read about security site Sophos recently released post on Facebook’s report on compromised accounts. According to the released infographic, 0.06% of the 1 billion logins per day are compromised. It does not sound like a threatening number until you realize we are still talking about roughly 600,000 accounts a day. Facebook’s report also indicated that less than 4% of shared content on Facebook is spam and less than 5% of Facebook users actually experience spam on any given day.
Alongside this eye-opening report, Facebook has introduced their newest feature – called Trusted Friends – that aims to make your life easier if you do fall in that 0.06% of compromised accounts. This new feature, to be tested in the coming weeks, would allow you to select up to 5 friends who would be given codes that could help you if you ever get locked out of your account.
Sophos’ article brings up an interesting point – you really need to select these friends carefully. After all, you are giving them the keys to fully access your most sensitive (and probably embarrassing) information. You better tell them practical jokes will not be tolerated!
The problem Facebook has at hand – regardless of how many security features it’ll be able to implement – is that users are still not educated about proper security settings and https formats. Also, their report talks about spam only; however, malicious apps being installed and shared can also achieve the same evil results. It is, then, vital to control the amount of information you share on social networks and constantly monitor mentions about you (and your brand) using social media monitoring tools.
And so, while Trusted Friends may be the temporary answer to their recent security breaches, we can expect further developments to be released as Facebook fights new and improved cybercriminal attacks. After all, the market for stolen information has seen a boost in recent years with social media giving them easy access to countless amounts of personal data.
Will you be utilizing this new security feature? Have you or any of your friends seen their account compromised by spam messages? Let us know in the comment box below.