IT security and control firm Sophos is reminding Internet users that their personal information may be at risk - and is perhaps best kept off the Internet - following news that popular social networking Web site Facebook contained a flaw that could have allowed hackers to access sensitive profile information about any of the site's 200 million-plus users.
Sophos notes that this data, which includes date of birth, home town, gender, family members, relationship status and political and religious views, could then have been used to commit ID fraud.
The creators of blog FBHive.com discovered a simple hack that would show everything listed in a Facebook member's "Basic Information" panel, even if this information had been hidden by the user with the Web site's security settings. Using the security hole, FBHive was able to access personal information about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Digg Founder Kevin Rose, and famous blogger Cory Doctorow.
The vulnerability has now been fixed by Facebook, but it is unknown if hackers have been using information exposed by the security flaw for criminal ends.
"While Facebook has fixed this loophole, it is disturbing that the vulnerability was there in the first place - as millions of Facebook users could potentially have been in danger of having information snatched, which they believed to have been secured," says Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos South Africa.
"This isn't the first time that Facebook has found itself in the spotlight for not properly securing users' information. Last month, a security loophole was found that could have allowed identity thieves and spammers to gather users' personal e-mail addresses. If users really want to be secure on social networks they shouldn't rely on the Web site keeping their data safe and sound - maybe it's better not to upload any personal information in the first place," Myroff adds.
For a video of the hack discovered by FBHive, please visit: http://vimeo.com/5280042
For a video of a flaw in Facebook, discovered by SophosLabs last year, which revealed date of birth details, please visit: http://vimeo.com/2601130.
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Sophos South Africa
Netxactics, trading as Sophos South Africa, is a South African-based company focused on the provision of security solutions. It is the Master Distributor for UK-based Sophos, one of the leaders in the provision of network access control and endpoint, e-mail and Web security and control solutions for the corporate environment. For more information, visit Sophos South Africa at http://www.sophos.co.za.
Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises worldwide to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Our network access control, endpoint, Web and e-mail solutions simplify security to provide integrated defences against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, we protect over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with our reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognised for our high level of customer satisfaction, we have an enviable history of industry awards, reviews and certifications. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Oxford, UK.
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