For decades hackers have deceived people in clicking on malware-ridden links, sending junk email them with phishing emails and threatening to reset the passwords. But hacking facebook accounts is different: It offers them access to years of status updates, photos and messages. And it’s really becoming a big business.

This week, a group of cyber criminals demonstrated just how easy it is to access an entire account with nothing more than the user’s mobile phone number. The attackers contacted the data without the malware or phishing; it was as simple while sending a single SMS text. The attackers figured out how to exploit three separate weaknesses. The first was uncovered by hacker fin1te, exactly who discovered that the SMS shortcode used to enroll a device about Facebook also arrived an eight-character confirmation code. If the hacker replaced this confirmation code with one that originated from any bill, the attacker could log into that bank account.

Once a hacker has an consideration, they can use that to post whatever they want to your information feed, which includes pornographic pictures or offensive language. They may also delete your private text messages. And they may also change your contact number or email, which would make it more complicated to recover your account if you lose it.

The good news is that it is possible to prevent this. Firstly, it is best to use only Facebook or myspace apps which have been downloaded from your official app store. You should also make security configurations to be advised of any logins out of a new unit or location. This will behave as an early caution system if someone is attempting to access your account. You digital rights management can also take away inactive repayment methods from the account.