Concerning about Facebook security?

It's no secret that Facebook has its share of privacy concerns and they have done quite a bit to beef up security. But there are things that you the user can also do to protect your account. Below are a few precautionary measures you can do to ensure that you are doing your part.

1. Change your password regularly

This practice should not only be applied to Facebook but any accounts that you want to keep secure, email, online drop box...etc. When choosing a password, use a mix of letters and numbers, lowercase and uppercase, use special characters, don't use common words, the longer the password the better, and memorize your password so you can avoid writing it down. Lastly, don't use the same password for all your accounts.

2. Facebook One-time Password 

If you are using Facebook from a public terminal or on your PC via public wifi, you can jeopardize your account. If you are concern about this, you can take advantage of Facebook one-time password. All you need to do is text "otp" to 32665 (FBOOK) on your mobile device. You will then receive a password for one-time use which will expire within 20 minutes. Note that currently this service is only offered in the U.S.

3. Logout

When you are finished with that status update or adding a friend, remember to sign-out of Facebook before abandoning your PC. I ran into situations when launching my browser and navigating to Facebook, I am presented with my profile, already signed on. This is because the last time I used Facebook on that computer, instead of signing out first, I just exit my browser thinking that will do it. 

You can also log out of Facebook remotely, to do this, go into your Facebook Account Setting and you can see where you are currently logged on with the option to perform remote logouts. You can also setup alerts to notify you when a computer or mobile device logs into your account. To do this go to your Facebook Account Setting and then Account Security, here you can setup email or SMS notifications.

4. Applications and Games

I myself avoid applications and games on Facebook, and with the latest news that came out this week (http://bit.ly/buDn6d) reporting that games such as Farmville and Texas Holdem (just to name a few) were transmitting information to advertising and internet tracking companies. Just exercise caution when adding applications to your profile.