First post and some Facebook protection

Originally Published: February 8, 2011 http://blogs.republicanherald.com/tech/?p=7

I’d first like to welcome you all to the newest blog at The News-Item, which I decided to call “Techoholic.” Basically, if you haven’t noticed, I tend to write technology/business articles for the Friday Consumer section from time to time, so a blog seemed a natural extension to share more news. Also, since I pretty much live for tech related news and tips, the name seemed fitting as well. If you have any tech or social networking related questions that you would like me to answer in future posts, feel free to email any and all questions to thomas_l@newsitem.com.

For this first post, I’d like to tell you all about a new feature in Facebook to keep all of your personal information even more safe. Recently, Facebook announced and added full HTTPS support for the site, which can keep you protected from attacks. By attacks, for example, I mean if you are connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot that other people are attached to and  by using standard HTTP, it leaves you vulnerable to people who want to steal your private account and identity information.

To clear things up, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the protocol you use to load up your webpages.  HTTPS is the same thing, but has an “S” on the end for “Secure,” making it a better option. If you setup your Facebook account to browse using an HTTPS connection whenever possible, it will force Facebook to send data via the more secure protocol, which encrypts data as it’s sent. This may make for a bit slower browsing, but it’s worth it and really not noticeable when on a broadband connection.

To enable this feature, point your browser to https://facebook.com.  At the top right corner, click on “Account” then “Account Settings.” Under this menu on the third option from the bottom, it says “Account Security,” which you then click “change” and then under the first option “Set up secure browsing (https) and login alerts” check the box under “Secure Browsing (https).”

It should look like this:

Now, every time you login to Facebook, if possible it will allow you to browse using the more secure protocol.

You may even been able to enable this feature available without originally having to add “https” to your browser address, but it didn’t show up for me until I did it this way. On a related note, if you’re using Google’s Gmail you can go into “Settings” and under “General” and select “Always use https” under “Browser connection.” Normally, that is the default selection, but better safe than sorry.

Happy secure Facebook browsing!