Personal Risks
As with any SNS, possible threats lurk depending on what you post out into cyberspace. Most people do not realize that once something is posted online it will be out in cyberspace forever and most likely be vulnerable to hackers. Hackers can easily cause criminal havoc if they have access to a user's actual date of birth because it makes it easier for them to hack into credit card accounts with that type of information. If a hacker can get into your credit card account online, they will also have access to your billing address and phone number. This leaves too much at stake for a possible stalking to start. Like any other service, Facebook is not perfect and has come under attack by various groups and organizations on how safe their network really is.Stalkers have been around for centuries now, some of which we know to be close friends of ours. Facebook is no different when it comes to the new age of stalker status as it gives way to over half a billion users around the world. Nowadays women and men alike are so eager to meet a new person whether to become friends or by taking it a step further. With Facebook, users can post any picture of either themselves or pose as somebody else. This is why it is absolutely imperative to only accept friend requests from people in which you have been in constant contact throughout your life as you never know who you may end up talking to. Younger users are more prone to being stalked over Facebook as they are very naive in the sense that they will post their address and phone number as well as update their status with the current lingo of "open crib." Having your current address and or whereabouts is a stalkers dream and makes it ten times easier for them and puts your life in danger.
Facebook in conjunction with third party applications also makes a terrible duo. Wall Street Journal reported that many of Facebook's popular third-party games and contests sell Facebook users information to other companies. During the week of March 9, 2009; Facebook was attacked a total of five times according to an article written by Carrie-Ann Skinner. Skinner goes on to address that “two of the hoax applications that have been downloaded by Facebook users include “F a c e b o o k - closing down!!!” and “Error Check System." "By downloading the app, users are giving hackers access to their profile and personal information, and also unwittingly forwarding fake messages to their friends, also encouraging them to download the programs” (Skinner). Many people can't fathom the risk they put not only themselves, but anyone he or she might know at risk as well. Continuing on with Skinner’s article, one will find that actual past Facebook chat conversations were also able to give insight to a person’s whereabouts. It seems as though Facebook is ever so changing its privacy settings to better its massive online community, however as their intentions seem good its final outcome might hinder others from continuing with the service as there seems to be a great deal of worry among the fellow Facebookers. One may think, “Well how do I avoid leaking out my personal information?” and the answer is fairly simple, know when to give out that information or better yet don’t give it out to the general public. Nothing in cyberspace truly private, if it’s online chances are that sooner or later others will be able to look it up and take one’s information and do whatever they might want once they have it.
Facebook has made personifying one’s profile a top-notch priority for the last few months, however in May of this year, Facebook hit another roadblock. George Deglin, a web security consultant, discovered an exploit that would allow a malicious site to immediately harvest a Facebook user’s name, email, and data shared with everyone on Facebook with no action required on the user’s part in which poses a major problem for everyday Facebook users (Kincaid). These sites often contain a virus known as malware which can be very tricky to remove from one’s computer because not only does it infect the mainframe, but also the executable programs which in turn causes the virus to spread throughout the whole system. Though Facebook has incorporated new ways of having one’s profile remaining private, “a recent survey from Consumer Reports found that 23 percent of Facebook users either did not know the site offered privacy controls or chose not to use them” (Wortham).
Watch this newscast on the risks of using Facebook.
