Facebook raises security concerns

This week, Facebook is again raising some security concerns. Sophos is warning users who are members of geographic networks to check their privacy settings, after photos of U2's Bono and a couple of bikini-clad girls were made available to the entire New York network.

“Last year, Sophos called for Facebook to change its default security options, as joining a geographic network automatically opens up the user's whole profile to every other member of the network, no matter how stringent your previous privacy settings,” explains Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos SA.

In this latest incident, one of the girls involved, Andrea Feick, posted her private photos to the social networking site. However, since she was also a member of the New York network, more than one million people were then able to view these pictures of the humanitarian campaigner.

"This could all be completely innocent on Bono's part, but it raises the serious security issue about how everyone must ensure their identity is properly protected online," says Myroff. "Facebook's privacy features are more sophisticated than some competing social networking sites, but the fact that Facebook changes these without asking when you join a geographic network is a huge oversight. While in this instance the result is potentially embarrassing for Bono, other members of the site could easily find themselves the victim of identity theft."

Facebook is made up of thousands of networks worldwide and users are encouraged to join them in order to meet and make friends with people in the area. Sophos advises all users to exercise caution when joining these networks and to ensure they reset their security settings to keep potential cyber-criminals away from personal information.

Last year, Sophos research revealed that 75% of the London network, the largest geographic network on the site, were allowing their profiles to be viewed by any other member of the network. Worryingly, 54% were revealing their full date of birth - vital information for hackers wishing to commit identity fraud.

Also of note this week was a Japanese player of the online interactive game “MapleStory”, who has been arrested by police after allegedly breaking into her virtual husband's account and killing his avatar.

According to media reports, the woman is suspected of carrying out the virtual murder after her fellow player and online love “divorced” her in the game without warning.

It would appear as though the 33-year-old Sapporo-based office worker victim was careless and shared too much information with his one-time Internet lover, which helped her break into his account and kill his character when the relationship turned sour. He subsequently complained to police, who arrested the woman on Wednesday at her home in southern Miyazaki.

“We've seen hackers break into virtual games before - sometimes to cause mischief, but other times to steal virtual goods that they then sell for profit. Indeed, it's surprising how much money can be made by selling 'virtual gold' online to fellow games players.

“Ensure that you choose your passwords sensibly, and always keep them secure,” Myroff adds.