Immunet Blog - Immunet Blog - Beware of Hackers “Liking” Your Profile Too Much: Facebook Changes Call for User Vigilance

Tuesday

Apr272010

Beware of Hackers “Liking” Your Profile Too Much: Facebook Changes Call for User Vigilance

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 11:36AM |

How much is your Facebook profile worth to you? This is probably not a question you ask yourself very often since Facebook provides its services for free. But quantifying the value of your profile is exactly how hackers think. Hackers who like your profile enough may steal it, and those with large social networks of friends may be at risk for getting attacked for the value and volume of their social contacts.

We think Facebook’s new “like” button is going to make people’s Facebook profiles more ubiquitous on the Web, since any site that you “Like” can now claim you as a user and display your profile picture and link to your page from their site. While the feature is great for marketers and users interested in receiving more targeted advertisements, it also exposes your profile more publicly to potential hackers and cybercriminals targeting accounts to hack.

This point was driven home most recently when a Russian hacker, known as Kirllos, was found to be peddling 1,000 Facebook IDs for amounts ranging from $25 to $45. Computerworld reports that Kirllos phished log-ons from a staggering 1.5 million Facebook users. There’s apparently no way to know whose accounts were among those hacked. But given those figures, it’s likely that someone connected to your network was touched.

And while this scam is troubling, it’s unfortunately more commonplace as Facebook has surpassed over 400 million users. The size of the community makes it an attractive marketplace not only for legitimate marketers, but also for cybercriminals who try to scam users to click on links that download malware to infect others in your community, steal passwords, and run money scams on your friends by posing as you. Facebook has beefed up its own security against hackers and is focusing on taking down attackers as soon as an attack is identified, according to Chief Security Officer Max Kelly. While Facebook is doing its part to protect users, Facebook users themselves can take proactive steps to minimize their risk from hackers.

We encourage users to continue to use Facebook with an eye towards safety and security. If you haven’t been thinking about your security and privacy on Facebook, now is the time to be more vigilant. Be sure you are using strong passwords and even a password manager tool to keep track of different passwords for each site you visit frequently. For more social networking safety tips, check out the Facebook Security page.

You can minimize your risk of being a malware target by keeping your antivirus software up to date, and get extra protection with Immunet to ensure the highest level of real-time protection. Facebook users with Immunet can share fast AntiVirus protection for free with their Facebook friends. By sharing Immunet Protect with your closest network of friends, you can have peace of mind knowing that you – and those who you engage with most frequently – are protected and secure from threats. Stay connected to your friends, but remain protected while doing so.

Immunet on Facebook

Our Facebook Fans are protected by Immunet Protect. Are you?