Facebook's New “Disposable Password” Option

In an attempt to make it more secure for members to access their Facebook account from an internet cafe or public computer, the social networking website said on Tuesday that it will soon provide its members with the option to get "disposable" passwords on their cell phones. Facebook has already provided its members with the ability to log out of their account remotely.

Jake Brill, Facebook's product manager, wrote on a blog post, "[W]e're launching one-time passwords to make it safer to use public computers in places like hotels, cafes or airports", while adding, "If you have any concerns about security of the computer you're using while accessing Facebook, we can text you a one-time password to use instead of your regular password."

Passwords have always been a major issue for both internet users and administrators. While long passwords are hard to remember, the short ones or those that are based on words from the dictionary are vulnerable to automated guessing attempts.

A recent survey conducted by Internet security firm Webroot shows that 47 percent of Facebook members, out of more than 2,500 respondents, use their Facebook password for other websites and 62 percent of Facebook members never bother to change their passwords. The survey also discovered that just 16 percent of respondents had passwords longer than ten characters; while 41 percent of respondents have disclosed their password to somebody they know during the last year.

This new move by Facebook will at least offer extra security to those who are willing to make the effort. Once the service starts, Facebook members can text "otp" to 32665 and receive a password immediately on their cell phone that will only work once and will become invalid in 20 minutes.