Facebook Enhances Compromised Account Recovery Process
The fact that Facebook accounts can be compromised by hackers and other people with malicious intent is nothing new. What is new is if it happens to you for the first time and you are left out of your account scratching our head at how you can recover it. According to Facebook, the vast majority of the popular social networking site’s users have never encountered a security problem. Some of them did have problems and found themselves in the embarrassing position of discovering that unauthorized messages have been sent from their account.
“We've spent the last few months improving the way to guide people through the process of regaining access to their account after it's been compromised and used to send spam. Currently, we send emails explaining what happened and provide links to remedy the situation. Now we're moving towards a new model that also involves clear and simple steps taken within Facebook itself. In doing so, we can ensure that the person logging in is the true owner of the account, thereby preventing hackers from using it to send spam in the future,” explained Project Manager with Facebook, Jake Brill.
The small number of Facebook users that had their account broken into will receive a notification email – that had already been established. The new bit is that when that user will try to access the Facebook webpage, they will be greeted with a new page (image below) which explains what happened. On that page the Facebook user will have to verify that he/she is the legitimate owner of the account. In this regard that person will go though a verification process.
To ensure that the Facebook account will not be compromised again the user is provided with help on picking a new, safer password and is even referred to the Facebook Security Page where plenty of info on how to stay safe online is available.
Jake Brill again: “This new change will help us not only fight spam, but also spread the word about security on Facebook. In the coming months, we'll be rolling out similar processes to address the different threats people may face. Our teams are working hard to make sure you never experience a security issue on Facebook, and in the rare case that you do, we're committed to making the process of regaining control of your account easy and informative.”
“We've spent the last few months improving the way to guide people through the process of regaining access to their account after it's been compromised and used to send spam. Currently, we send emails explaining what happened and provide links to remedy the situation. Now we're moving towards a new model that also involves clear and simple steps taken within Facebook itself. In doing so, we can ensure that the person logging in is the true owner of the account, thereby preventing hackers from using it to send spam in the future,” explained Project Manager with Facebook, Jake Brill.
The small number of Facebook users that had their account broken into will receive a notification email – that had already been established. The new bit is that when that user will try to access the Facebook webpage, they will be greeted with a new page (image below) which explains what happened. On that page the Facebook user will have to verify that he/she is the legitimate owner of the account. In this regard that person will go though a verification process.
To ensure that the Facebook account will not be compromised again the user is provided with help on picking a new, safer password and is even referred to the Facebook Security Page where plenty of info on how to stay safe online is available.
Jake Brill again: “This new change will help us not only fight spam, but also spread the word about security on Facebook. In the coming months, we'll be rolling out similar processes to address the different threats people may face. Our teams are working hard to make sure you never experience a security issue on Facebook, and in the rare case that you do, we're committed to making the process of regaining control of your account easy and informative.”
