Facebook is sending users a reassuring message: If you are targeted by state-sponsored hackers going after your personal information on Facebook, the social network says it will give you a heads up.
When Facebook will alert you
Facebook posted a public message informing users that they will be notified by the company if it believes their account ‘has been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state.’ Facebook said it will send users a notification if their account is suspected of being under attack, in order to not only inform them of the potential state-sponsored hack, but also to offer them the option of turning on Login Approvals — a way to block people from accessing their account from other devices.
Read more: 5 Facebook scams to watch out for
Facebook said it is ‘constantly’ monitoring users’ accounts for ‘potentially malicious activity.’
“While we have always taken steps to secure accounts that we believe to have been compromised, we decided to show this additional warning if we have a strong suspicion that an attack could be government-sponsored,” Facebook said in the post. “We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts.”
Read more: Facebook friends could hurt your credit
Google implemented a similar notification system a few years ago for Gmail users. The company also recently implemented Password Alert — a feature that alerts users when their account information is entered into an un-trusted site, as a way to reduce phishing scams.
How to find out if any of your accounts have been hacked
With all the recent data breaches, it’s important to keep track of your information and whether it’s gotten into the hands of the wrong people.
Read more: Top 15 scams to look out for
And now there’s an easy way to find out.
HaveIBeenPwned.com is a free resource that lets anyone quickly assess if they may have been put at risk due to an online account having been compromised or ‘pwned’ in a data breach.
Just pop in your email at this site, and it shows if your address has been breached, on what sites, and what kind of info the criminals got from it. You can also set up notifications for future breaches, too.
