Facebook has recently come under fire for security lapses and questionable practices regarding subtle changes to their privacy policies and what that means for user security.
Make It Work is very concerned with Internet Safety, and we’re committed to helping our customers stay safe on the internet. Check out our Poogling page for more information. If you’re concerned, as we are, with keeping yourself and your children safe online, take a moment to be our Facebook friend, and stay up to date with up-to-the-minute security information and tips, like this one. This article comes to us from CNET.
Facebook claims that it has 400 million users. But are they well-protected from prying eyes, scammers, and unwanted marketers?
Not according to Joan Goodchild, senior editor of CSO (Chief Security Officer) Online.
She says your privacy may be at far greater risk of being violated than you know, when you log onto the social-networking site, due to security gaffes or marketing efforts by the company.
Facebook came under fire this past week, when 15 privacy and consumer protection organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, charging that the site, among other things, manipulates privacy settings to make users’ personal information available for commercial use. Also, some Facebook users found their private chats accessible to everyone on their contact list–a major security breach that’s left a lot of people wondering just how secure the site is.
In two words, asserts Goodchild: not very.
On “The Early Show on Saturday Morning,” Goodchild spotlighted five dangers she says Facebook users expose themselves to, probably without being aware of them:
- Your information is being shared with third parties
- Privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign
- Facebook ads may contain malware
- Your real friends unknowingly make you vulnerable
- Scammers are creating fake profiles
Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
Is Facebook a secure platform to communicate with your friends?
Here’s the thing: Facebook is one of the most popular sites in the world. Security holes are being found on a regular basis. It is not as inherently secure as people think it is, when they log on every day.Certainly, there are growing pains. Facebook is considered a young company, and it has been around a few years now. It is continuing to figure this out. They are so young, they are still trying to figure out how they are going to make money. It is hard to compare this to others; we have never had this phenomenon before in the way [so many] people are communicating with each other–only e-mail comes close.
The potential for crime is real. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, victims of Internet-related crimes lost $559 million in 2009. That was up 110 percent from the previous year. If you’re not careful using Facebook, you are looking at the potential for identity theft, or possibly even something like assault, if you share information with a dangerous person you think is actually a “friend.” One British police agency recently reported that the number of crimes it has responded to in the last year involving Facebook climbed 346 percent. These are real threats.
Lately, it seems a week doesn’t go by without some news about a Facebook-related security problem. Earlier this week, TechCrunch discovered a security hole that made it possible for users to read their friends’ private chats. Facebook has since patched it, but who knows how long that flaw existed? Some speculate it may have been that way for years.
Last month, researchers at VeriSign’s iDefense group discovered that a hacker was selling Facebook usernames and passwords in an underground hacker forum. It was estimated that he had about 1.5 million accounts–and was selling them for between $25 and $45.
And the site is constantly under attack from hackers trying to spam these 400 million users, or harvest their data, or run other scams. Certainly, there is a lot of criticism in the security community of Facebook’s handling of security. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that the company rarely responds to inquiries.
Do people really have privacy on Facebook?
No. There are all kinds of ways third parties can access information about you. For instance, you may not realize that, when you are playing the popular games on Facebook, such as FarmVille, or take those popular quizzes–every time you do that, you authorize an application to be downloaded to your profile that gives information to third parties about you that you have never signed off on.Does Facebook share info about users with third parties through things such as Open Graph?
Open Graph is a new concept for Facebook, which unveiled it last month at its F8 conference. It actually is basically a way to share the information in your profile with all kinds of third parties, such as advertisers, so they can have a better idea of your interests and what you are discussing, so Facebook can–as portrayed–”make it a more personal experience.”Read the rest of this story HERE at CNET.
by CBS Interactive staff
—-
If you enjoy learning about new trending tech topics, gadgets, toys, and other digital creative fun stuff, you won’t want to miss out on our monthly Stress-Free Digital Lifestyle Newsletter!
We cover Tech Tips & Tricks, Creative Software, Important Security Updates, and the tech news stories you want to know about.
It’s FUN, it’s FREE, and it takes less than 10 seconds to sign up. Now that’s fast!
Click on the image here —> 
No pressure, you can unsubscribe at any time.