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You can make your Facebook more secure

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The "s" is a little letter that could make a big difference if you're accessing Facebook from an unsecured network like you might find in a cafe or on a school campus. The https protocol encrypts everything you're doing so it's a lot harder to hack into. During the recent upheaval in Tunisia, some protesters were finding that their Facebook accounts had been hacked, possibly by the government. Facebook switched them over to https and the accounts were okay from then on.

We talk with Chet Wisniewski from the security firm Sophos about what the new setting does and what it can protect you from. He says while it's great for stopping outside hackers, it doesn't do much for stopping malicious apps within Facebook itself. So be careful what you click on, be careful what permissions you give.

We also talk to Harlan Yu, a Ph.D student in computer science at Princeton who has done a lot of research on Facebook privacy. He says there are claims that https slows down your computer and that it costs a lot to put on your website. But Harlan says the technology has been around for a while and by this point, the speed difference is almost imperceptible and wouldn't cost much for Facebook to implement it broadly.

So if you want to move to this more secure setting (and both our guests recommend that you do), here's how you do it:

Go to Account Settings, then Account Security and look under Secure Browsing.

Also in this show, a new map shows the swearingest places in America. Shoot!

About the author

John Moe is the host of Marketplace Tech Report, where he provides an insightful overview of the latest tech news.
Joe Dude's picture
Joe Dude - Feb 2, 2011

Why bother fiddling with controls that they don't want you to use anyway????

Try bactu. Bactu offers a site where you can create a profile, make friends and broadcast info - but all your contacts and communications are PRIVATE.

No groupthink, no popularity contests, no info-stealing and
no drama. Nice.

Marsha Malone's picture
Marsha Malone - Jan 31, 2011

I found it and enabled it. It also showed some account activity which was unfamiliar to me. The site allows you to disable access for unfamiliar activity (I did this also). Thank you for the information.

Johana Muriel-Chandler's picture
Johana Muriel-C... - Jan 29, 2011

there is no Secure Browsing under Account Security on my account.. neither...I was very eager to distribute this information among my friends but what is the point...that feature does not exist or is somewhere else very hidden !!! (Disappointing)

Chester Wisniewski's picture
Chester Wisniewski - Jan 28, 2011

Facebook is turning on this new feature in small batches until it is available to all users. Check back in a few days and it is likely your account will be enabled.

SR Stern's picture
SR Stern - Jan 28, 2011

Hmmm...there is no Secure Browsing under Account Security on my account...