You might have shared your Facebook login information without a thought to, especially if you downloaded some of over 400 malicious applications that are designed to take Facebook login credentials from users. This means it’s the right time for you to reset your password.
Facebook discovered hundreds of malicious apps
The news was announced as an announcement from Meta the parent company of Facebook, which is also Facebook’s company, which revealed the dozens of malware-related apps that its researchers discovered. According to Meta the report, there was numerous apps included in the roundup, which makes it much easier for malicious actors to find users. The most malicious apps included editors for photos which accounted for an astounding 42.6 percent of cases and flashlight apps, VPNs as well as 3D games and fitness trackers, horoscopes as well as ads management or business applications. We had already heard about one of these ad-management apps before, and it has tricked over 250,000 people into downloading it onto the devices of their choice.
You don’t need to worry about any of these apps going forward–both Google and Apple have scrubbed their marketplaces of these known apps since Meta’s announcement–however, that won’t remove the apps from any devices that already installed them. If you’ve downloaded any from the nearly 400 harmful apps on the iPhone or Android then you’ll have to remove the apps. You can get a complete list of known dangerous applications in Meta’s page for announcements here.
Do not use applications which require you to sign into Facebook
Furthermore to that, this list isn’t necessarily complete. Although Meta has provided an exhaustive list of known harmful applications, it isn’t able that it will catch every oneof the criminals. It’s on all of us to be wary whenever downloading apps that are new from apps like the Play Store or App Store, especiallywhen those apps require connecting with your Facebook account to verify your login.
Of course, some applications offer Facebook as a method of login. It’s not necessarily harmful however, this is an indication to be cautious If a program does not work without the Facebook credentials, think about deleting it from your device. The legitimate apps won’t oblige users to connect to Facebook to access them except for a few certain examples in Meta.
How can you protect your Facebook password
Meta is contacting the approximately one million users affected So you’ll be informed in the event that your login details were compromised. But, given the severity of this issue so, it’s a good idea for us all to change our login information right now.
To begin, log in to Facebook. On the desktop, select your avatar on the top right. On mobile, press Menu in the lower right. On both platforms, go to Settings and Privacy. On the desktop, you can select “Security and login” when on the mobile device, select “Password as well as security.” There you can pick an alternative password by clicking the “Change password” option ( just make sure that it is secure and distinctive).
The most important thing, however the most important thing to do is make sure that you enable 2-factor authenticator (2FA) If you don’t have it yet. If you enable this feature you’ll be required to enter the 2FA code every when you log in that requires access to your authenticator’s approved application or phone, as well as a the physical security key.
With 2FA your password and username aren’t enough to gain access to your account. If an application is able tosteal your login information later on, then you’ll be safe. It’s not a huge time to setup, and I strongly recommend doing this today. If you own one of the iPhone, you can make use of the built-in authentication feature which means you don’t need to download any third-party application.
