Janet CollinsBe Careful Who Your Online Friends Are
April 14th 2009 05:15
Social networking has driven an obsession for many of us to accumulate as many online friends as possible and a long list of “friends” on these sites has become something of a status symbol. The trouble is cyber crims now see online friendships as a way to get hold of our personal information and are offering their friendship all over the net.
Hundreds of complaints daily are flooding into sites such as Facebook and MySpace about personal information being accessed by new found friends on these sites who have then assumed their victims’ identities. In some cases, fraudsters have been brazen enough to then contact the online friends of the victim under their new found identity, sometimes even saying they desperately need some money.
While threats on social networking sites come in a variety of ways, becoming a friend online often allows a cyber criminal to view a user’s profile and social networking site executives say many people on these sites either forget to protect their information or don’t realise they are able to. The information on most of these sites can be controlled by the users, but according to researchers, many members don’t even check the privacy settings.
Anti-virus software company, Sophos, created the identity of Freddi Staur as part of its research into online fraud. Freddi then sought out friends from all over the net. The information Sophos collected was interesting. Forty-one per cent of people accepted friend requests from Freddie and once listed as a friend, Freddie had access to all sorts of personal information, in some cases even passwords.
Of the members that Freddie approached and had his friendship request accepted, 84 per cent of them divulged their date of birth, 87 per cent had detailed information about their eduction or job and 78 per cent even listed their address or location.
On its website, Sophos lists their own general safety tips for Facebook which include adjusting the privacy settings to help protect your identity, considering carefully who you allow to become a friend, making some of these people “limited friends” so they only have access to a limited view of your profile and disabling options you don’t really use.
Spokesmen for both MySpace and Facebook are cautious about overstating the problem. Although they acknowledge that the complaints can be in the hundreds a day and the sites are constantly updating their security systems, they still maintain the problem is a low level one. Facebook claims that more than 175 million members visit the site each month.
Facebook has its own list of general safety tips and encourages all members to read and understand them before using its site.
These are:
1 Review your online profile to reveal only what you need to.
2 Don't assume default privacy settings are appropriate or sufficient.
3 Don't post contact info or share any details that could help someone guess your password.
4 Use a unique password for your Facebook account to isolate it from any problems elsewhere.
5 Keep anti-virus software current to detect programs that could monitor your online activities.
6 Ignore emails that ask you to confirm details for your account.
7 Don't share your logon details with other people.
8 Block messages from other people who solicit information from you.
9 If you get an emergency appeal from a friend, confirm it independently.
10 If you suspect there is a problem, contact abuse@facebook.com
source: www.smh.com.au; www.sophos.com
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Comment by Johnny Come Lately
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Unfortunately, when he tried to get into the site himself, the system wouldn't let him and wouldn't accept his password.
I know a lot of people are naive but it still is a lot easier than you think because sometimes some of the information you think is hidden can easily be hacked into.
Good to see you around again.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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im not that concerned with fraud, as i dont have any money to steal
Comment by Anonymous
Your real friend,
Jennifer
Comment by AmyHuang
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Comment by Janet Collins
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I love your attitude. Everything's a damn risk anyway even if we are cautious. It would be a bit creepy if someone got your own login and password and started pretending to be you. One guy couldn't log back in himself.
Thanks.
Comment by Janet Collins
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Thanks a lot for that. It's a bit scary but so is everything. Some people say that any information from your computer can be hacked. So where is safe?
Good on yer
Janet
Comment by Janet Collins
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I have never accepted anyone I didn't know but some of the cases had people's friend's logins and passwords being hacked and these fraudsters were posing as quite a few people's friends.
Unlike Morgan, I am a little more cautious but I think after that you just have to hope for the best.
Thank you.
Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Janet Collins
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There always seems to be something we have to keep an eye out for doesn't there.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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David, is it possible for you to just make a comment without mentioning me, or do you have some kind of disorder?
i add people because it makes them feel welcome, and im not an anti-social bigot like you
Comment by Johnny Come Lately
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Also, even though Teresa and I do not see eye to eye, she seems to have a problem with my Asian heritage. I'm not so sure she would want you spouting about your sex life with her on a blogging site.
You truly are crass.
I don't think anyone really cares what you and Morgan Bell think of each other. Just show some manners to Janet.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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i agree, it is rude, ive ammended (censored) the portion i quoted out of respect for Janet and her readers
i dont know what Davids problem is, he follows me around everywhere being inappropriate and making a fool of himself
i know i shouldnt respond but when people swear at me and insult me its just a reflex to defend myself
David,
this from someone who thinks homosexuality and womens rights are evil . . . its like getting hate mail from Hitler
it is of no consequence to me whether you approve of me or not, just stop bothering everyone else with your inane slander
Comment by Johnny Come Lately
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Everywhere readers go if Morgan Bell has commented on a post you seem to pop up with some derogatory and generally obscene comment. Perhaps you are the virtual male obsessed with Morgan because it sure looks that way to the casual observer as you seem to follow her everywhere.
Maybe you're the one who needs to get a life.
Comment by Janet Collins
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I do apologise that my post provoked some nasty responses and I have now eliminated the problem! I would have done it earlier had I known but I have been out.
Thank you both for your continued support of my blog.
Janet
Comment by Morgan Bell
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and Johnny, that was the best laugh i had all day!
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Comment by Janet Collins
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It's always good to know what precautions we can take.
Thank you for visiting.
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Thanks for the alert, Janet.