December 16, 2011
How hackers can exploit Facebook accounts
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“What we have noticed more recently is cybercriminals are building threats that are designed to trick social network users; the bad guys have realized that people are much more likely to trust a link or attachment that a friend or family member has sent them, and they are exploiting that trust.” says Con Mallon of Norton. That kind of trust makes Facebook a rich source for identity thieves.
Each one of us is responsible of what kind of information he/she shares, so we have to manage the information we share to our individual level of comfort!
David Emm of Kaspersky Lab UK believes that we all feel comfortable when we’re online and the potential of danger isn’t apparent in the way that it would be in a normal transaction (cash, credit card, … etc.)
This lack of awareness of the risks is one reason why people post personal information about themselves on social networks as the feeling of comfort is making us reveal far more about ourselves than we normally would!
Facebook’s advanced featured can make identifying strangers VERY easy. The website’s facial recognition system means that if someone with lots of friends uploads an image containing unknown people, moving a cursor over the faces could tell them who’s in it.
To prevent that, open your privacy settings, in front of “How Tags Work” click “Edit Settings”, click “Tag suggestions” and change the value to “Disabled”.
Accepting strangers as friends on Facebook also poses a serious real world danger if you have a habit of being open about your status and whereabouts. Apart from the problem of a burglars knowing when you’re out, there’s the issue of a stalker latching onto you and making your life miserable.
Protection:
- From privacy settings, in front of “How Tags work” click “Edit settings”, click “Friends can check you into places” and change the value to “Disabled” to prevent your location of becoming easily known
- Never feel bad about removing Facebook friends, as they don’t know when they are “unfriended”
- Turn off all apps and never enter your username and password except into the Facebook login.
- Make sure you set who can see your address, IM screen and e-mail address to “only me”.
Always remember that Facebook isn’t a race to see who can have the most friends. Be cautious when adding new ones, and if you doubt them, simply limit accepting people to
Updated: December 16, 2011 11:40 AM
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