How to Get Rid of a Facebook Virus: 10 Steps

Table of contents:

How to Get Rid of a Facebook Virus: 10 Steps
How to Get Rid of a Facebook Virus: 10 Steps
Anonim

This article explains what to do if your Facebook account is hacked or attacked by a virus and how to limit the damage this can cause. Through the Facebook platform it is not possible for your computer to be infected with a traditional virus. In most cases, the attacks are aimed at recovering the login credentials in order to take control of the entire Facebook account.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Managing a Hacked Account

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 1
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 1

Step 1. Change your Facebook account password.

The first step in restoring normal operation of a compromised Facebook account is to immediately change the current security password to a new one, robust and never used before.

If you are no longer able to log into your Facebook account using the credentials in your possession, you will need to report to Facebook technical support that your account has been hacked and wait for the problem to be resolved

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 2
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 2

Step 2. Change the password of all services connected to the account

In most cases, users use the same password to protect access to different web services: this means that any virus or hacker who manages to steal the Facebook password could in fact also have access to all the accounts of the services at it connected. If your Facebook account has been hacked, also immediately change the password of any account or web service connected to the profile (for example those of Instagram, Spotify, e-mail services, and so on).

For example, if the security password of your Facebook account is the same as the one you use to access the e-mail address you use as the username of the profile, you will have to immediately change this too, otherwise the attacker who has violated your Facebook account will also automatically have access to all your electronic correspondence

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 3
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 3

Step 3. Uninstall all unsafe or suspicious apps

When you normally use your Facebook account to log in automatically to other applications or services (for example Tinder), the program automatically gains access to the information on your Facebook profile. Unfortunately, if the account has been hacked you may have inadvertently given access to your profile even to unwanted apps. To uninstall applications linked to a Facebook account, follow these instructions:

  • Visit the website https://www.facebook.com and log in.

  • Click on the "Menu" icon

    Android7dropdown
    Android7dropdown

    located in the upper right corner of the page.

  • Click on the option Settings.
  • Click on the tab Apps and websites displayed on the left side of the appeared page.
  • Select the check button to the right of any app you think is suspicious listed in the "Active apps and websites" section.
  • Click on the blue button Remove.
  • Also select the checkbox "Also delete all posts, photos and videos …" and click on the button Remove when required.
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 4
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 4

Step 4. Disconnect the devices connected to your Facebook account.

Facebook provides the list of all devices currently connected to the account and their geographic location. If you notice that there is a device that you do not recognize as yours, you can immediately disconnect it remotely by selecting it and clicking on the item Go out.

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 5
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 5

Step 5. Notify friends and family that your Facebook account has been hacked

One of the side effects of when a profile is hacked is that all users on its friends list could receive a message with a malicious link in it sent directly from the original account. To prevent the attacker who hacked your profile from trying to hack your Facebook friends account as well, post a post in which you warn your friends and all other users that your profile has been hacked.

You may need to briefly explain how your profile was hacked and what the consequences were (if for example the breach occurred because you opened an infected message you received from another user, explain this in the post), so that your friends know what to do to stem the problem

Part 2 of 2: Avoiding Future Problems

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 6
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 6

Step 1. Find out how to identify malware within Facebook

Facebook malware can take different forms, but in most cases they are spread in the form of links sent via Messenger. Below is the list of scenarios in which you should act with extreme caution and attention:

  • A friend who ambiguously promotes a product or service.
  • A message received from a friend containing a link or video and a phrase such as "This is you?" or similar.
  • Any advertisement, post or message from a friend that seems different than usual (for example, uses a different way of writing or tone or uses the means offered by social networks in a different way than usual).
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 7
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 7

Step 2. Enable two-factor authentication

It is a free security service that is based on a two-step authentication system for logging in which involves using a security password and a "disposable" code that will be sent via SMS to the mobile number associated with the Facebook profile. This means that anyone who tries to hack your Facebook account will need to have the relevant security password and your smartphone to do so. To enable two-factor authentication follow these instructions:

  • Visit the website https://www.facebook.com and log in;

  • Click on the "Menu" icon

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    Android7dropdown

    located in the upper right corner of the page.

  • Click on the option Settings.
  • Click on the tab Security and access displayed on the left side of the page that appeared.
  • Scroll down the page that appears to the "Two-Factor Authentication" section.
  • Click on the button Edit located to the right of the entry "Use two-factor authentication", then click on the entry Start.
  • Enter your login password when prompted.
  • Select the "Text Message" checkbox, then click on the item Come on (you may need to provide your mobile number before you can continue).
  • Enter the six-digit numeric code contained in the SMS you received from Facebook, then click on the button Come on.
  • Click on the button end when required.
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 8
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 8

Step 3. Review the links before selecting them

If you are able to identify the website or page a link is referring to (by looking at the URL of the link), it most likely is not a malicious post or message. This does not mean, however, that all links that appear in the clear are safe. Before clicking on a link, always carefully review the entire content of the post or message with which you received it.

  • For example, if the link adopts a format similar to the following "bz.tp2.com", rather than a more readable and normal form similar to this "www.facebook.com/security", avoid opening it.
  • If the link is legible and understandable but is contained within a suspicious post or message (for example there are obvious grammar errors, but the message comes from a friend who does not normally make that type of mistake), do not open the link.
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 9
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 9

Step 4. Check if the messages you receive are authentic by contacting the sender directly

If you have received a link or file from a friend, contact them directly before opening it to confirm that it is a message that was sent intentionally. When it is a virus or a malicious program that sends links or files, there is no trace of the message in the chat of the person who appears as the sender.

Obviously, if the friend in question confirms that the message was actually sent by him, you can open the link or file without fear

Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 10
Avoid Viruses and Malware on Facebook Step 10

Step 5. Log into your Facebook account using only the official website or mobile app

Nowadays there are countless websites that allow you to log in quickly and quickly using your Facebook account directly (for example Spotify, Instagram and Pinterest, just to give a few examples), but in this way you do nothing but increase the data security risk if your account is hacked. To preserve your security, use your Facebook account credentials exclusively to log into the official website (and on the mobile app.

Some viruses designed to violate the Facebook platform have the purpose of inducing the user to log in to their Facebook account using web pages that resemble in all respects the main page of the social network website (the one from which you make login normally). In this way the account will be immediately compromised

Advice

Most viruses that can attack a Facebook account are relatively harmless, but any potentially dangerous situation should be handled with all due care

Warnings

  • Ignoring the effect that a Facebook virus can generate can have serious consequences: the virus could spread by infecting the accounts of many other people and you may no longer have access to your profile. If you suspect your Facebook account has been hacked, change your login password immediately.
  • Unfortunately, opening a malicious link or file received via the Facebook Messenger app on a mobile device is as harmful as performing the same action on a desktop computer.

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