Zuckerberg’s hack attack leads to new security features on Facebook

Coming soon to your Facebook Account Settings–secure browsing and one-time passwords. These security enhancements have been introduced on the heels of a hacker posting a bogus message on Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Page suggesting that the website pursue social good instead of business profit.

The update posted late Monday suggested that Facebook turn to its users instead of banks for money and got “liked” by more than 1,800 members of the social network before it was erased.

Image courtesy of @JesseOguns

According to Facebook, the release of improved tools for protecting the content of users’ profiles was tied to an international Data Privacy Day this week.

“A key part of controlling information has always been protecting it from security threats like viruses, malware and hackers,” Facebook’s Jake Brill said in a blog post.

One-time passwords
New security features being rolled out included the availability of one-time passwords that US Facebook members could use at shared computers in places such as cafes, airports or hotels where keystrokes might be saved on machines.

Sending a mobile phone text message reading “otp” to 32665 will result in a Facebook user getting a response containing a password that works only once and expires in 20 minutes.

The mobile phones must be registered in Facebook users’ accounts to get disposable passwords.

Login Notifications
Facebook will also let members remotely check whether they are still logged onto the service at other computers and then sign-off from afar.

“In the unlikely event that someone accesses your account without your permission, you can also shut down the unauthorised login before resetting your password and taking other steps to secure your account and computer,” Brill said.

Secure Browsing
According to The Facebook Blog members will soon be able to ‘experience Facebook entirely over HTTPS’, a valuable feature for users who frequently log into their accounts from public access points such as internet cafes, libraries and airport lounges. This security enhancement will become part of the “Account Security” section on the Account Settings page.

Facebook Captcha
Another security feature mentioned on the The Facebook Blog is social authentication. In order to verify your identity, Facebook might show you a photo of one of your friends and ask you to name that person in the photo, making it harder for hackers to access your account.