Facebook has released a new feature to help users protect their accounts when they log into public computers: one-time passwords.
The feature is simple: users who want to access Facebook on a public computer but don't want to risk using their sensitive passwords on it can text "otp" to 32665. If their phone is linked to their Facebook account, they'll be texted back a temporary password that can only be used once and expires in 20 minutes.
The feature "should be available to everyone in the coming weeks," according to Facebook.
One-use passwords make perfect sense; once you're done with your Facebook session at an airport or a hotel computer and log out, nobody else can get in because the password will have expired. Even if someone installed a keylogger, it wouldn't matter. You don't have to worry about whether you need to change your password because you accidentally told Firefox to save it.
The world's largest social network has been focusing in on security recently. Last month, Facebook released a remote logout feature that also tracks your account activity, letting you know if someone is accessing your account without authorization.