FACEBOOK - SECURITY
DO YOU NEED TO STOP USING FACE BOOK? - No not at all, just be more aware of these things going on around you while on Facebook.
Is your friend really a friend on Facebook?
Scammers go where the people are – Facebook.
Facebook is the latest hot spot for
swindlers in search of new victims.
And the world's most popular social-networking website can be a gold
mine for such crooks, experts say.
Scams on social-media sites are much the same as the ones you may have
received as e-mail, said
Kevin Johnson, a consultant for
Secure Ideas, which does security research.
"The big difference in the [social-networking] scams is the level of
trust that the users have,'' he said. "People trust them more than they
trust e-mail."
Over time, we've become leery of unusual e-mails with strange links, but
many people's ingrained suspicions of e-mail scams have not carried over
to Facebook. The social network tries to keep track but isn't
responsible for everything on its site.
Cybercriminals on Facebook today come cloaked as real friends sending
messages asking you to wire them money in a foreign country or posting a
note on your wall with a funny video that's really a dangerous link.
The scammers are smart, sneaky and hoping you fall for their tricks.
They do it for various reasons, including stealing your identity or
using your personal data to sell to marketers or simply spread malicious
software that can destroy your computer.
They lure victims many ways, such as offering fake gift cards or a
chance to win gadgets simply by clicking on a link or that oh-so-common
Facebook "Like" button. But to win, the con artists say, you have to
answer some questions and provide a cell-phone or credit-card number.
"People automatically trust that, if it's on Facebook, then it's
probably secure and vetted by Facebook in some way," said Tom Eston, a
senior consultant for SecureState, a security-management consulting
firm.
But even Facebook admits that keeping its customers safe is difficult.
"Facebook faces a security challenge that few, if any, other companies
or even governments have faced — protecting more than 500 million people
on a service that is under constant attack," company spokesman Simon
Axten said. "The fact that less than 1 percent of Facebook users have
ever encountered a security issue on the site is a significant
achievement of which we are very proud."
Facebook has created a system to combat identity theft, viruses and
suspicious log-in attempts. Its security team looks for strange activity
that may mean an account has been compromised. The company can delete
fake messages and block links. And it does go after scammers in court.
"Security is a constant arms race, and our teams are always working to
identify the next threat and build defenses for it," Axten said.
Other companies try to warn customers if their brands get caught up in a
scam.
Back in March, fake gift cards popped up for the
Olive Garden, one of the restaurant
chains owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants. The chain posted a
message on its Facebook page, warning customers about the scam.
"Once we're aware, we take steps to inform our guests and work with them
if they're inconvenienced in any way," Olive Garden spokeswoman Heidi
Schauer said.
It's not always easy to tell the difference between a legitimate offer
and a fake one.
Experts suggest that users — before clicking on a link — check out any
deals first by going to a company's website, examining its Facebook page
closely, seeing how many fans the page has and, of course, using common
sense.
Some scams involve con artists who use Facebook to contact potential
targets. Several parents, for example, recently filed complaints with
the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which partners with the
FBI, about a Facebook modeling
contest based in Florida.
One mom said she paid $5 to enter her son in the contest, from which the
winner was supposed to receive a photo shoot for a clothing line and a
paid trip to Miami. She began questioning the offer when the organizer
asked for her son's birth certificate, Social Security number and
credit-card information, according to the complaint, which is
pending.
Earlier this month, authorities nabbed a
Key West man and accused him of
extorting sorority members and pledges at several universities,
including at least two Florida schools. He had contacted the women
through Facebook and demanded they provide racy photographs and
web-camera transmissions of themselves. He threatened them, saying their
sorority membership depended on their compliance, officials said.
Law-enforcement agencies throughout the world are battling these issues.
In Thailand, a university student on Dec. 4 was arrested for using
another student's name to create a fake Facebook page, connect with
other people and swindle them out of some of their money.
It's challenging to track down wrongdoers who could be accessing the web
from anywhere in the world. In the Sunshine State, the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement, which handles some cybercrime cases,
prioritizes its cases and goes after violent offenders first.
"The scams are so widespread and so huge that it's hard for anyone to
really tackle it," FDLE Special Agent Supervisor Mike Phillips said.
Another source of scams involves the third-party software applications
allowed by Facebook. The social network invites developers to create
software programs for games, entertainment, businesses and shared
interests. So far, there are hundreds of thousands of such "apps"
available.
An app may seek permission to access a user's personal data. In most
cases, that information stays with the developer, but some of them break
the rules and use it for malicious reasons.
So should you stop using Facebook entirely?
"No, it just means we need to use it more carefully," said Johnson, the
security consultant. "We need to understand what we are sharing and
understand the threat that sharing presents.''
Here are some tips for
Facebook users to stay secure:
Set appropriate privacy and security defaults and choose a complex and
unique password for your account.
Don't install third-party applications from sources you don't trust.
Only accept friend requests from people you directly know.
Read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Limit personal information you share. No matter settings, you should
consider all information and pictures as public.
Facebook Security Page — http://www.facebook.com/security — will provide
updates on who users can keep their information secure on and off the
social network.
Several security blogs, including
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/ and
http://socialmediasecurity.com/, write about the latest scams
plaguing Facebook and other networks. The social-media security blog has
lists of suggested privacy settings.