Security & Privacy + Software & Apps

Facebook has announced that they are adding secure HTTPS access to the company’s web site. This means that data is encrypted, in both directions, between your computer and their servers. This can ensure that data that you send is protected, but also that no one can “sniff” your connection and intercept data on Facebook pages you load.

You’ll see this by the presence of a padlock somewhere in your browser window (if you use Safari, this lock is at the top-right of the window; in Firefox, it’s at the bottom-right), and a green section in your address bar with the name Facebook, Inc.

You can log into Facebook securely by using https instead of http in the site’s URL (https://www.facebook.com), or by changing your Account Security settings. The settings below should be available sometime today:

Facebook also announced a new type of “captcha” (a system used to prove you are human) if you need to verify your identity: it uses pictures of your friends, and asks you to name the person in the photos. Facebook says, “Hackers halfway across the world might know your password, but they don’t know who your friends are.”