Proof of more secure Facebook profiles is No Facebook profile to all

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Proof the Most Secure Facebook Profile is No Facebook Profile At Allcontent skip to Fight Identity Theft ProtectionDetectionRecovery HomeBlogAboutContact Subscribe Printer Friendly Share this Page HomeBlogJanuary, 2010 Proof the Most Secure Facebook Profile is No Facebook Profile At All

If you ' re a Facebook addict-and chances that if you have a parietal lobe and a mouse, you are-then you'll be interested to see this eye-opening article about how easy it is to hack through the privacy settings in your profile.

According to ZDNet.com domain, an Israeli cvia security research firm recently demonstrated just how easy it is to hack Facebook and bypass the privacy settings that so many of us hold dear.

Claims the man:

I could write malicious application that steals users personal info or even simple application that build for me a bot net users for malicious purposes like hacking systems for SQL Injections and DDOS attacks. Using ClickJacking i also could fool users to click whatever I want: adding me as their friend, delete their account, and even open their camera and microphone using flash (Older versions then 10.x), or install Facebook applications that posting their web camera and microphone every time they connected to Facebook-Just use your imagination on what you want others to click on ...Transfer to you poker chips???

In other words, be afraid. Be very afraid.

In all seriousness, this does give cause for concern '. Many users simply believe that using the proper security settings on their Facebook profile is enough to keep unwanted users out, but a skilled hacker should have no trouble doing damage.

It's important to note that if you want to protect your privacy, it's still a good idea to keep your privacy settings strict so that unwanted users can't view your information or photographs. But the ease with which Facebook can be hacked, at least in the example above, it does give rise to this question: is this proof that the most secure Facebook profile is no Facebook profile at all?

Demo Video

The researcher has released a video showing the clickjacking hack, though it doesn't have any audio-bummer.

 

What Should You Do?

There's no reason to cut and run, simply because you ' re afraid of hackers. But if you closely guard your security online and keep a Facebook profile active, then this question is one you'll really want to ponderen.

Remember also that just because a hacker could get to your profile doesn't necessarily mean that any will or would want to. Just be sure that you respect your own privacy and respect the power of hackers to go after your identity through something as simple as social media.

January 27, 2010 2 comments Share This Page: Email Facebook Google Twitter MySpace Digg Add a comment2 Comments Dave Posted 2/8/2010

 
Not sure why you ' re posting someone's address and birthday. Her name is Kim, but again, I don't see the point.

Anonymous Posted 2/4/2010

1190 REMOVED Ave San Jose, CA 95125-3242 (408) 298-REMOVED born march 13, REMOVED

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Facebook activate with your privacy

You may remember, last December, when Facebook began prompting users to make their messages and shared content publicly visible. With the announcement, founder Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Facebook users are encouraged to follow the example, changing his "old" privacy settings and posting this statement:

For those who are wondering, I put most of my content on the page my personal Facebook is open, so people could see it. Can I set some content to enhance my private, but I don't see a need to limit the visibility of pics with my friends, family or my teddy bear:)

A few months later, Facebook pushed the limits of confidentiality and again with the latest program, "Instant Personalization". This service allows other web sites, to customize the user experience by giving them access to Facebook user data. And no, there is an "opt-in" as the other.

This new direction in the privacy policy represents a significant shift from its previous attitude of Zuckerberg privacy control when what he termed "the vector around which Facebook operates."

Not only Facebook changed its approach to privacy, it also changes the approach to implementing these new directions.

With instant personalization, Facebook further embraced the culture "we know best" and omitted the prompts.  Users found already opted-in without having to bother themselves with his consent. Certainly, you can still opt out, but Facebook warns you that you will forfeit a richer experience as you browse the web.

No, don't do this.

Why change direction?  What Zuckerberg drink elixir to make him adopt Google CEO, mantra of Eric Schmidt, "If you have something you don't want anyone to know, maybe you should do first?

Zuckerberg's Facebook page offers simple explanation:

"I'm trying to make the world a more open location."

In a video interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg edited topic further this idea with the promotion of Facebook willingness to remain flexible and constantly changing to embrace "social norms".

Starts to get interesting in about 2: 50 as mark elaborates on Facebook to view your privacy:

If you do not want to watch the video, follow the related offers:

We believe our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social standards.

A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they've built, doing a privacy change-make a change for 350 million users privacy is not the kind of thing that would make a lot of companies. But we viewed as a really important thing, to keep always a beginner's mind and what we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we went for it.

However, if I guess I would say the interests listed in profile Facebook tell the real story:

"Transparency"-slide to increase revenues, marketshare & Facebook

"Breaking things"-as the previous privacy policy revolutions "Facebook"-create your own in an attempt to dethrone the most Google "information flow"-your flow of information around the web, the higher the Facebook revenue minimalism»-minimizing your concerns

Let's cut to the chase ...

Facebook sees an opportunity to control the web how can any company-even Google. It has 400 million users (and growing) and this will promote these users (and their data) to control what people see and how they interact over the internet. This is a fantastic opportunity that could make Zuckerberg one of the most powerful (and wealthier) people in the world.

Now you see why are some privacy concerns won't prevent Facebook or venture capital that back?

Now don't get me wrong ... I love Facebook and will continue to frequent the site. In fact, I can still choose to opt-in for a service such as "instant Personalization". But that aside, Zuckerberg isn't kidding anyone here. Regarding this author is concerned, it's all about increasing revenue and Internet dominance.

Last week, PC Magazine has published a nice little tutorial slideshow offering 8 steps on how to protect yourself better from the pitfalls of Facebook privacy. Unless you plan to abandon altogether Facebook, I recommend especially control ... just recognize that won't be customized to your tutorial!

View the original article here

Facebook Does About-face With Your Privacy

You may recall December 2010 when Facebook began asking users to make their shared content and status messages publicly visible. With the announcement, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, encouraged Facebook users to follow suit by changing his own "old" privacy settings and posting this statement: 

For those wondering I set most of my content on my personal Facebook page to be open so people could see it. I set some of my content to be more private, but I didn't see a need to limit visibility of pics with my friends, family or my teddy bear :)

A few months later Facebook pushed the privacy boundaries again with its latest program, “Instant Personalization”. This service allows other web sites to customize user experience by giving them access to user’s Facebook data. And no, it's not an opt-in program like the other one.

This new direction in privacy policy represents quite a shift from Zuckerberg's previous stance when he termed privacy control as "the vector around which Facebook operates."

Not only did Facebook change its approach to privacy, it also changed its approach to implementing these new directions. 

With the Instant Personalization program, Facebook embraced the "we know best" mentality further and omitted the prompts altogether.  Users found themselves already opted-in without the need to trouble themselves with giving consent. Sure, you can still opt out, but Facebook warns you that you'll be forfeiting a "richer experience as you browse the web".  

No, I'm not making this up.

So why the change in direction?  What elixir did Zuckerberg drink to make him adopt Google CEO, Eric Schmidt's mantra, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place"?

Zuckerberg's Facebook page offers this simple explanation: 

"i'm trying to make the world a more open place."

In a video interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg elaborated on this idea further by promoting Facebook's willingness to stay flexible and embrace ever-changing "social norms".

It starts to get interesting at about 2:50 as Mark elaborates on Facebook's view of your privacy:

In case you don't want to watch the video, here are the relevant quotes:

We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.

A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they've built, doing a privacy change - doing a privacy change for 350 million users is not the kind of thing that a lot of companies would do. But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner's mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it.

However, if I'm making my guess, I'd say the interests listed on his Facebook profile  tell the REAL story:

 "Openness" - openness to increasing Facebook's marketshare & revenue

"Breaking Things" - like Facebook's previous privacy policy"Revolutions" - creating his own in an attempt to dethrone Google"Information Flow" - the more your information flows around the web, the higher Facebook's revenue"Minimalism" - minimizing your concerns 

Let's cut to the chase...

Facebook sees an opportunity to control the web the way no other company - not even Google - can. It has 400 million users (and growing) and it will leverage those users (and their data) to control what people see and how they interact on the internet. That's an amazing opportunity which could make Zuckerberg one of the most powerful (and richest) people in the world.

Now do you see why some privacy concerns aren't going to deter Facebook or the venture capital people that back them?

Now don't get me wrong... I love Facebook and will continue to frequent the site. In fact, I may have even chosen to opt-in for a service like "instant personalization". But that aside, Zuckerberg isn't kidding anyone here. As far as this writer is concerned, this is all about increasing revenue and Internet dominance.

Last week, PC Magazine published a nice little slideshow tutorial offering 8 steps on how to better protect yourself from the privacy pitfalls of Facebook. Unless you're planning on abandoning Facebook altogether, I highly recommend checking it out...just recognize upfront that your tutorial won't be personalized!

View the original article here