Malware, Threat Management

Facebook begins warning users of state-sponsored attacks on their accounts

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Facebook will begin notifying users when nation-state attackers target their accounts.

The social media platform's CSO Alex Stamos wrote in a blog post this past week that users will be prompted to enable “login approvals,” which function similarly to two-factor authentication.

“Whenever your account is accessed from a new device or browser, we'll send a security code to your phone so that only you can log in,” the blog post states. “We recommend you also take steps to secure the accounts you use on other services.”

Stamos also writes that while the company secures accounts believed to have been compromised, it also believes state-sponsored attacks are more “advanced and dangerous,” therefore warranting an additional security warning.

This security pop-up could also indicate that users' computers or mobile devices have been infected with malware, so they should “rebuild or replaces these systems if possible.”

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