Don’t Wait Until You’re Hacked: 10 Facebook Security Best Practices Every Business Needs Right Now

It happens more than you’d think. A business owner steps away for a vacation, and while they’re gone, their Facebook account gets hacked. By the time they realize what happened, the damage is done — their personal profile is compromised, their business page is inaccessible, and the process of getting it all back is a slow, frustrating maze of Meta support forms and identity verification requests.

I’ve seen this happen to clients firsthand, and the truth is: most of it is preventable.

Facebook remains one of the most powerful platforms for businesses and nonprofits to connect with their communities. But with that reach comes responsibility — and risk. Hackers know that many small businesses and organizations treat their Facebook pages as an afterthought when it comes to security. That’s exactly what they count on.

Here are ten best practices every business and organization should put in place before something goes wrong.

“The best time to secure your Facebook account was when you created it. The second best time is today.”

1. Never Tie Your Business Page to Only One Personal Account

This is the single most common vulnerability I see — and the most avoidable. When a Business Page is managed by only one person’s personal profile, that page is only as secure as that one account. If the account is hacked, disabled, or the person leaves the organization, the page can become completely inaccessible overnight.

Every Business Page should have at least two people with full Admin access. For nonprofits, consider making a board officer or senior staff member a secondary admin. For small businesses, a trusted partner or your communications consultant can fill that role.

Review your admin access at least once a year — and any time a staff member, volunteer, or contractor leaves your organization, remove their access immediately. Don’t wait.

2. Use Meta Business Suite to Manage Your Page

If you’re managing your Facebook Business Page directly through your personal profile, you’re missing an important layer of protection. Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com) gives you a more secure, professional way to manage your business assets.

Setting up a Meta Business Account creates separation between your personal profile and your business page. It allows multiple people to have managed access without being personal Facebook friends, and it makes recovery significantly easier if one account is compromised — because the business asset exists as its own entity.

If your page isn’t connected to a Meta Business Account yet, make this a priority.

3. Turn On Two-Factor Authentication — For Everyone With Access

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the single most effective tool available to prevent unauthorized account access, and it’s free. Yet many business owners skip it because it adds one extra step to logging in. That extra step is what stands between your account and a hacker.

Here’s how to enable it: go to Settings & Privacy → Settings → Security and Login → Two-Factor Authentication.

One important note: use an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator, Authy, or Duo) rather than SMS text verification. Text messages can be intercepted. Authenticator apps cannot.

And this applies to everyone — not just the primary admin. Every person who has any level of access to your Business Page should have 2FA enabled on their personal account. You’re only as secure as your least protected user.

4. Use Strong, Unique Passwords — and a Password Manager

Reusing passwords across platforms is one of the easiest ways to get hacked. If your Facebook password is the same as your email password, and your email gets compromised, your Facebook account is next.

Use a password manager — Bitwarden is free and excellent; 1Password and LastPass are popular paid options — to generate and securely store strong, unique passwords for every account. You only need to remember one master password, and the rest is handled for you.

If you receive a suspicious login alert from Facebook, change your password immediately, even if you’re not sure whether the alert is real.

5. Audit Page Access Regularly

Think about everyone who has ever had access to your Facebook Business Page. Former employees. Past interns. The marketing consultant you worked with two years ago. The volunteer who helped during your last fundraiser. Are any of them still listed as admins or editors?

Go to your Page → Settings → Page Roles (or Meta Business Suite → People) and review the full list right now. Remove anyone who no longer needs access. Document who has what level of access and keep that record updated.

This audit takes 10 minutes and could save you weeks of recovery time.

6. Assign Page Roles Thoughtfully

Not everyone needs Admin access. Facebook offers tiered roles, and using them correctly limits the damage that can be done if any one account is compromised.

•      Admin — Full control, including the ability to add or remove other admins. Reserve this for owners and senior leadership only.

•      Editor — Can post and manage content but cannot change page settings or roles. Appropriate for communications staff and consultants.

•      Moderator — Can respond to comments and messages. Good for customer service roles.

•      Analyst — Can view insights only. Safe for vendors or partners who only need data access.

Giving everyone Admin access because it’s easier to manage is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes organizations make.

7. Set Up Trusted Contacts and Keep Recovery Options Current

Because Business Pages are tied to personal profiles, the security of your personal account matters enormously to your organization.

Facebook allows you to designate Trusted Contacts — friends who can help verify your identity if you’re ever locked out. Set these up at Settings → Security and Login → Choose 3–5 Friends as Trusted Contacts.

Also make sure your recovery email address and phone number are current and that you actually have access to them. Many people discover during a recovery crisis that their backup email hasn’t been active in years.

Finally, when you set up two-factor authentication, save your recovery codes somewhere safe — a printed copy in a locked drawer, a secure note in your password manager. These codes can be a lifeline if you lose access to your authenticator app.

8. Know the Most Common Attack Methods

Most Facebook hacks don’t involve sophisticated technology. They involve human error. Knowing what to look for is your first line of defense.

•      Phishing links — Fake emails or messages that look like they’re from Facebook, asking you to log in or verify your account. Always go directly to facebook.com rather than clicking links in emails or messages.

•      Third-party app permissions — Apps you’ve connected to your Facebook account can become backdoors for hackers. Audit your connected apps at Settings → Apps and Websites and remove anything you don’t recognize or actively use.

•      Suspicious Messenger messages — Even from people you know. If a message contains a link and feels off, don’t click it. Their account may already be compromised and sending malicious links automatically.

9. Have a Plan for If It Happens Anyway

Even with every precaution in place, breaches can happen. Having a response plan before you need it makes an enormous difference in how quickly you recover.

•      Go to facebook.com/hacked immediately — this is Meta’s official starting point for compromised accounts.

•      Do not create a new account. This violates Facebook’s one-account policy and can result in a ban that complicates your recovery significantly.

•      Alert your page co-admins right away so they can remove the compromised account’s access if needed.

•      If a business page is involved, contact Meta through business.facebook.com/support — this channel often has faster response times than the consumer help center, especially if you have ad spend history.

•      Be patient. Recovery can take days to weeks. Document everything as you go.

10. Document Everything

This is the tip that takes the least amount of time and gets skipped the most. Keep a simple internal document — stored securely, accessible to more than one person — that includes:

•      Who has admin access to each social media platform

•      What email address each account is registered under

•      Where recovery codes are stored

•      Who to contact if something goes wrong

Thirty minutes of documentation today can save days of recovery time later. For organizations with staff turnover, this document is essential.

“Your Facebook Business Page is a community asset. Treat it like one.”

Social media platforms are communication infrastructure for your organization — and like any infrastructure, they require maintenance and protection. The good news is that most of what’s described above is free, takes minimal time to set up, and dramatically reduces your risk.

If you’re not sure where to start, a quick communications audit can help identify your most pressing vulnerabilities across all your platforms — not just Facebook. That’s exactly the kind of work we do at Changing Currents Communications.

Don’t wait for a crisis to find the gaps. Let’s talk before it happens.