Open up your mind and say, ahh...

In a blog entry on Thursday, Facebook stated that about 600,000 log-ins every day are compromised.

The factoid, first noted by security site Sophos, was in the context of an entry introducing new security features for the social network. The figure was extrapolated by a stat showing 0.06% of 1 billion logins per day are compromised. Less than 0.5% of Facebook users experience spam on any given day.

Facebook’s proposed solution for such breaches is to find three to five “trusted friends”. That way, if you’re locked out of your account, Facebook will send codes to your friends to give to you. Facebook is also testing app passwords that the company will generate on your behalf and you won’t need to remember.

What do you think? Are you surprised at the extent of the breaches or does this seem low to you? Let us know in the comments.

Facebook is releasing a new method for accessing your account when you lose your password: a little help from “trusted friends.”

The social network says it is testing a new tool in the coming weeks that will let you designate three to five friends you trust. If you forget your password or can’t access your email, Facebook will send your friends a code that they can pass along to you.

We’ve probably all been there: You forget your password and have to go through the “Forget your password?” process of waiting for a new one to arrive by email. Or, if we use Facebook’s comparison, you lock yourself out of your house — and now can go to a friend who has a spare key. Your spare key for Facebook is the code.

The new system doesn’t actually seem more efficient than the usual route if you’ve simply forgotten your password, but if for instance your account has been hacked and you’ve been locked out of your email, this is a new solution. It adds a new layer of security (the feature was announced for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month) too, since your friends can verify your identity more easily than any automated email.

Security firm Sophos points out, though, that a hacker could also remove or change your trusted friends settings and render the feature useless.

To set up “trusted friends,” go to your Security Settings Page (Account > Account Settings > Security), and click on the Trusted Friends section. From there, you can scroll through your friends and choose up to five. (You may not have access to this just yet — this section doesn’t appear in my settings.)

SEE ALSO: Facebook Privacy: 10 Settings Every User Needs to Know

Facebook offers similar, lesser-known security tools as well, like being able to log out of your account remotely and receive a temporary password for accessing public computers.

The social network also announced this week a new option to use different passwords for third-party apps. To set this up, go to Account Settings, and in the Security tab, go to the App Passwords section.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, malerapaso