How much safe am I on Facebook?

[dewi1]

I recently became interested in internet protection and security. I have few questions though.
Can hacker randomly attack someone on Facebook, perhaps only because the victim has a weaker password (eg a short word and 1 symbol), even if he doesn't even know the victim?
Could they perhabs try to log into some random account and click on forgot my password and mobile number and somehow "recover" the account only with the help of a password?
Is it necessary to send an email (phishing) before or can they just hack the facebook itself?
Does a hacker have to know his victim or can he just break into random accounts?

 

[dewi1]

By if he doesnt even know the victim I mean if he also doesnt know any information about the victim, like the email or mobile number

 

[neeyik]

If no additional security setup has been enabled (e.g. two factor authentication), it is possible to randomly select an email address and guess the password within a couple of tries. But there's a world of difference between something being possible and something being likely, and this just isn't very likely at all.

Most social media successful hacks are achieved through the use of phishing emails - these can be sent on mass to a wealth of random email accounts, and they will claim that your Facebook account or similar needs immediate attention. The unwitting person then clicks on the link in the email and they get sent to a website that looks very much like Facebook - once that person is logged in, the site saves their login details.

Many people use the same details across multiple sites, and with this information, it's then possible to get gain access to other accounts.

 

[DelJo63]

The FIRST step in security is the user him/herself!