Stop taking 'quizzes on Facebook' or your account could be hacked

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a method of disabling permission for 3rd party applications on your Facebook account

 This is not a drill, or the usual ‘WhatsApp is shutting down tomorrow’ styled hoax.  In the last two weeks, there has been an explosion of quizzes on (Nigerian) Facebook.

But these web applications are not from Facebook. They are third-party applications that link into Facebook and require access to certain (or all) aspects of your account for effective operation. And immediately you authenticate them, you have likely granted a stranger back door to information and data on your Facebook account.

There are hundreds of these quizzes on Facebook, but TestOny is the newest and most popular quiz platform. You have probably come across one of its 'fun quiz'.

Users have to authenticate with their Facebook accounts and answer quizzes that range from fun to trivial. Questions like 'How many girls have you slept with?,'What is your dream job?' look harmless and fun, but may be a potential security time bomb.

These ‘Facebook quizzes’ are not new, they have been around for a while, but concerns over them passed like a fad. Vonvon was one company that its quizzes raised suspicions in different quarters.

In 2015, a chief executive at Vonvon Jonghwa Kim told the BBC that data Vonvon gathers is used to make the quizzes better. This is what all the other platforms will tell their users in one user agreement or the other. But there is no way to verify their claim until it's probably too late.

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If you have participated in any of the quizzes recently, change your password immediately.  Most importantly, do not authorize applications outside Facebook.

Even though you have consciously or unconsciously authorized any 3rd party applications before, take the following steps to remove the ones you are uncomfortable with.

After the selection, all the apps you have ever authorized will appear. Place your mouse over them and remove.