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5 Ways to Protect Facebook Account Against Clickjacking, Hacking

Posted: 01 Jun 2011 09:20 AM PDT

Facebook teamed up with internet safety browsing company Web of Trust in early May in an effort to beef up the social networking site’s security settings and to prevent spamming and clickjacking—a malicious hacker technique that "tricks" web users to revealing sensitive information such as passwords and social security numbers whenever they "click" on a attractive and misleading link, such as "click here to win a free iPad2."

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While the social networking site will soon require users to confirm before posting comments and will mandate that users enter a special code before accessing the site from an unrecognized computer, the security modifications are still receiving harsh criticisms since the changes only "warn" users of potential threats, it doesn’t get rid of them.

While at the very least the amped security settings should help users be more cautious when using the site, there are other simple ways Facebook users can protect their information from getting into the wrong hands. To learn the 5 ways to prevent against Facebook clickjacking, continue reading below.

5. Install a Spam & Virus Firewall

By far the easiest way to safe-guard your computer from clickjacking, spam and viruses is to install anti-spyware and virus software. You should never browse the internet without proper protection; you should especially never browse heavy traffic sites like Facebook—a scammer’s playground—if you are not protected. If your anti-spyware and virus software is outdated, renew it. If you are depleted of funds, there are plenty of organizations that offer limited protection entirely for free, like AVG free antivirus.

4. Log-out, Always

There are particular web sites that allow users to remain logged-in for extended periods, like Facebook. While constantly being logged-in may be convenient, especially if you use those sites on your phone, you are actually making yourself extremely vulnerable to hackers—they can forge requests via clickjacking with more ease. So always make sure you log-out.

3. Secure Web Chanel

One of the easiest ways to increase security settings is to make sure that you are browsing Facebook using HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). To check whether you are using a secure browsing site, simply check the address bar. It should say, "https://www.facebook.com/" not "http://www.facebook.com." If it does not say this, go to Account > Account Settings > Account Security (click change) and check the box that says Secure browsing (https).

2. Upgrade Browser

To increase your level of protection, all you may simply need to do is upgrade your web browser to the latest version. This is because recent updates to Google Chrome, Mozilla Fire Fox 4 and Internet Explorer 9 are designed to help fight and prevent clickjacking and spamming. Don’t automatically assume because you download the new version of the web browser of your choice that you are immune to clickjacking however. It’s important that you still take precaution at all times.

1. Install Browser Add-Ons

Some web browsers provide free add-ons that are specifically designed to increase protection and are tailored to help block clickjacking, NoScript for Mozilla Firefox and Not Scripts available for Google Chrome users. Both add-ons work the same way: they stop Flash movies from automatically loading and playing when you visit a site. Granted, you can view the videos if you wish, all you need to do is click on the empty section where the movie would normally be.

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at best online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5@gmail.com

Also See: Stay Protected from Fake Facebook Login Pages Used to Hack Passwords