Fresh off of probably the most ironic hacking instance yet, Facebook announced two new security features aimed at keeping user data better protected.
In a blog post Wednesday, the social networking giant said its site will be using HTTPS technology which keeps data encrypted over insecure networks. More specifically, it protects from security busters like new attack plug-in Firesheep.
The only drawback to the HTTPS feature is that it makes page loading a little slower – a fair trade off, I think.
This option is slowly being rolled out over the next few weeks and will be available to turn on by going to account settings.
Also new to the Facebook security landscape is an authorization feature similar to ones used for online banking. Don’t worry though, unlike the type box that forces you to try to decipher squiggly non-existing words, Facebook has something a bit more ‘social’.
Once the network suspects strange activity within your profile, Facebook will prompt users to identify their friends through pictures in order to authorize use on the site.
This announcement came a day after Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his fan page account hacked by someone hoping to gather backing for turning Facebook into a “social business”. 1,800 likes and 500 responses later, the message was gone but not before the media caught wind of it.
Credit to Facebook, they know the biggest obstacle right now is user security and they seem to be working diligently to move past them. Not that this announcement is in response to the Zuckerberg hacking (although the timing was pretty impeccable), but it is a step in proving Facebook is looking out for its users.
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Tags: Facebook, online security, social media
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