If you use different computers or network connections to access Facebook, you should be very careful regarding the security of your Facebook account.

There are so many situations when other users might get access to your Facebook account; without your consent or even without your wildest imagination. Let’s say you were browsing Facebook on a shared computer and someone managed to trace your Facebook login cookie using malicious add-ons like Firesheep. We have earlier covered a detailed guide on using an HTTPS connection to protect your login information from malicious add-ons e.g Firesheep, so you should be very careful on a public Wi-Fi connection that’s not completely secured.

The method is called “sniffing” and the person who uses malicious scripts to gain unauthorized access may sniff login data, cookies on a not so secured network connection.

Another possible scenario is when you suddenly find that someone else has updated your Facebook wall with spam messages or vulgar pictures. The reason – you forgot to log out from the public computer in which you were using Facebook and the next user using the same computer got unauthorized access to your Facebook account. He browsed through your Facebook profile and maybe deleted some of your old pictures and photo albums.

The good thing regarding Facebook account settings is that he/she won’t be able to change the password without knowing the currently active password but nevertheless, it’s a major security risk.

Setup Login Alerts In Facebook – Get Notified When Someone Else Is Using Your Facebook Account

Setting up Login alerts in Facebook is a really neat idea and takes only a minute. Go to Facebook Account settings page and find “Set Up Login alerts” under the “Settings” tab. Then choose”Send me an email” whenever anyone else is using my Facebook account.

Facebook detects the IP address of your computer and tries to match it with the earlier IP addresses used to login to your Facebook account. If you use Facebook from your mobile or from the office computer, Facebook records the frequently used IP addresses of the devices being used with your Facebook account.

Whenever, there is a mismatch or whenever someone else is uses your Facebook account from a different IP address, you will get the login alert directly in your email address. If you get a login alert, the first thing you should be doing is login to your Facebook account from a secured connection and change the password.

Here is how the Facebook login alert email looks like:

As you can see, Facebook will immediately send a login alert whenever it finds that another suspicious IP address or device is using your Facebook account from a different location. Prior to this, you should register your own home or office computers and your mobile device because neglecting this will send login alerts whenever you use Facebook from the office or home or on the go (mobile).

Also read: Facebook login problems – When you are unable to login to Facebook

View The Locations And Devices From Where Your Facebook Account Was last Used

To know which devices, browsers or operating systems were being used to access your Facebook account, go to the “Account security page“. Here is how the recent Facebook activity logs will look like:

The location is an approximate location, in my case, the country detected was correct but the city wasn’t. However, Facebook lets you end the activity of a specific location or device which is currently active, all you have to do is click on “End Activity” link placed just beside the last accessed location.

Hence, you should always choose to receive email and SMS alerts in your mobile, if you are really concerned about the security of Your Facebook account and want to protect it from hackers and malicious phishing attempts.

Got any recommended Facebook security tip ? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Related: How to secure a wireless network connection