Staying Safe While Using Facebook On Mobile Phones

You can carry Facebook everywhere on your phone, but is it safe? Facebook Mobile leaves you more susceptible to attempted hijackings and identity theft.

Here are five ways to make sure there’s more than a phone case between you and a potential intruder.

1. Lock your device.

Obvious? Maybe, but more than 30% of people don’t use passwords to protect their mobile devices.

2. Use a different password for email and Facebook accounts.

Three-quarters of web users select a single password for all their sign-in purposes, and the most common codes are often the most obvious (“123456” and “password” are favorites). A few more digits, letters or symbols can drastically increase the time it takes to crack your password.

3. Make sure Secure Browsing is on.

Facebook has offered a secure browsing option since 2011. Without an HTTP Secure (HTTPS) connection, your data is open to sneak attacks any time you use free Wi-Fi (i.e., in a Starbucks or hotel lobby)

4. Enable login notifications and approvals.

To ensure your account is only accessed when and where you determine, enable this feature. Facebook will send you a notification every time your account is accessed from a new location (you’ll have to provide a mobile number for texts, if you haven’t yet).

5. Use “Trusted Contacts.”

This recent innovation from Facebook asks you to select a small group of reliable friends. In the event you can’t access your account, and even security questions aren’t helping, Facebook will send different codes to these friends. When you put them together, you can get back in.

via Mashable