Another security feature introduced by Facebook recently is the Social Authentication tool. Social authentication has been introduced to ensure that a user can monitor his/her log in/log out sessions. Thus, if a user is observed to log in Lagos in the morning and Edmonton a few hours later, they may be asked to verify their identity so as to confirm that the account has not been compromised. While many sites use a challenge-response test called CAPTCHA in their registration/purchasing flows to verify that a human being and not a code is trying to access their system, Facebook may use the social authentication tool.
- Traditional Captcha
The social authentication tool, will show a few pictures of your friends and ask you to name the person that appears in those photos.This means that the system would not allow you to log in if you are unable to identify your friends in the photos. This tool is however, being tested at the moment and changes will be made depending on user-feedback.
- Social Authentication Display
Talking Point
What do you think of the social authentication tool? Can you identify all of your friends on Facebook?