Facebook tightens user security

The security enhancements came on the heels of a hacker posting a bogus message on the public fan page of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg suggesting that the website pursue social good instead of business profit.

The release of improved tools for protecting the content of users' profiles was tied to an international Data Privacy Day this week, according to Facebook.

"A key part of controlling information has always been protecting it from security threats like viruses, malware and hackers," Facebook's Jake Brill said in a blog post.

New security features being rolled out included the availability of one-time passwords that US Facebook members could use at shared computers in places such as cafes, airports or hotels where keystrokes might be saved on machines.

Sending a mobile phone text message reading "otp" to 32665 will result in a Facebook user getting a response containing a password that works only once and expires in 20 minutes.

The mobile phones must be registered in Facebook users' accounts to get disposable passwords.

Facebook will also let members remotely check whether they are still logged onto the service at other computers and then sign-off from afar.

"In the unlikely event that someone accesses your account without your permission, you can also shut down the unauthorized login before resetting your password and taking other steps to secure your account and computer," Brill said.

Facebook on Wednesday said a software "bug" let a hacker impersonate chief executive Zuckerberg in a comment posted to his public fan page at the website.

The bogus update posted late Monday suggested that Facebook turn to its users instead of banks for money and got "liked" by more than 1,800 members of the social network before it was erased.

(c) 2011 AFP