Hackering is becoming problematic on Facebook.

Facebook besides from being an open window to the world is becoming the main target for hackers. 1,5 millions of Facebook accounts have been stolen and are up for sale on the black market.

A hacker called « Krilos » was offering log-in data of thousands of Facebook users at bargain basement prices. The price of the account being sold is based on the amount of friends on the network. That is, bundles of 1,000 accounts with 10 or fewer friends were on sale for just $25 while  accounts with more than 10 friends could be bought for $45.

Hackering : A well oiled system

Criminals typically steal data with 'phishing' techniques that trick users into giving out their passwords, or with malware that logs computer keystrokes. The accounts can then be hijacked to send spam and malicious programs. Personal information including birth dates, addresses and phone numbers can be used to commit identity fraud.

Facebook has a security team that monitors the social networking site for suspicious activity, such as many friends requests in a short period of time and high rates of friend requests that are ignored.

Facebook between trust and suspicion

Is facebook reliant? Many of us would doubt due to those hackering problems. Facebook is fine if you remember a few basic things. Never put anything on there that you don't want people to know, such as home adresses, phone numbers, passwords or any personl details that could be used for identity fraud. A lot of people are wised-up on the things that come through the post, or in your email, and then completely forget that Facebook is still internet based.
Common sense is all that we need. You don't want them to know? Don't put it on! Always make sure you have an up-to-date antivirus.

When deleting your Facebook account, remove all the information you can off the account, set all the settings to « friends only », delete all your friends, change the email address, and set the account to non-searchable. It takes some time, but at least there is nothing left of you on facebook.

Internet is a great thing but with its defects.

Pahminee Guddoy

Jérôme Guiraud