7 steps to secure your Facebook account

Having to go through the ordeal of your Facebook account being hacked and having to retrieve it is not an easy one. Here are seven steps you can follow to better equip yourself from being in this situation.

How to secure your Facebook account:

Step 1: Log in to your Facebook account and go to the ‘Settings and Privacy’ page.

Step 2: Navigate to the ‘Security and login’ settings from the menu.

Step 3: Check the ‘Where you’re logged in’ option to see all your open sessions. If there are any sessions that you do not recognise, immediately log out of the respective session by clicking on the three-dot menu and selecting ‘Log out’. You will also have an option to log out of all sessions in one go.

Step 4: Next, under the ‘Login’ options, select the edit button next to ‘Save your login information’. This setting will show whether your login information is saved on the computer for faster login. If this is your personal computer and only you have access to it, having your login information saved is ok. Otherwise, if this information is saved on a public or office computer that others have access to, click on ‘Remove account’ to remove your saved login information.

Step 5: In the ‘Two-factor authentication’ (2FA)setting, turn it on by selecting the edit button next to the ‘Use two-factor authentication’ option and following the process. You can either use an authenticator app to generate your login code or receive it via SMS. Do not forget to generate and note your backup codes as soon as you enable Two-factor authentication.

After this, every time you log in to your account, you will be required to enter the 2FA code after entering your login password.

Step 6: Now, under the ‘Setting up extra security’ option, ensure that the unrecognised login alerts setting is on. This way, you will get an alert via email or Facebook messenger when Facebook detects a login to your account from an unrecognised account.

Step 7: Finally, under the ‘Setting up extra security’ option itself, select three to five of your friends on Facebook. These chosen friends can help you get access to your account if you are ever unable to access your account or have been locked out of it.