IT security and control firm Sophos has welcomed news that
Facebook has agreed to better promote its security settings and to
take greater actions to protect children online, following a safety
probe by the New York attorney general's office.
According to reports, investigators set up fake Facebook
profiles posing as teenagers and received sexually suggestive
messages from adults within days. The investigators then notified
Facebook through its website, but these complaints went unanswered
for weeks. Facebook has now agreed to post sterner and more obvious
warnings about how users can control and set their security
settings to reduce the dangers to children and others using its
site. It has also pledged to deal with any complaints within 24
hours.
The office of the New York Attorney General
investigated Facebook security.
Sophos experts note that, while Facebook's privacy and security
features are far more sophisticated than competing social network
sites, it is still almost impossible to police the site and check
that users really are who they say they are. Furthermore, many
users continue to unwittingly expose their personal details to
millions of strangers online, potentially putting themselves at
risk of online sexual abuse.
Indeed, recent
research from Sophos revealed that 75 percent of users in the
London network, the largest on Facebook with more than 1.2 million
members, allowed their profile to be viewed by any other member. In
light of this research and the findings of New York state, Sophos
is urging Facebook to rethink its default privacy settings.
"With more than 70 million active users on Facebook - many of
whom won't have thought to change their privacy settings and to
limit which other members can access their personal information -
it's no surprise that sexual predators are using these sites as a
way to lure innocent victims," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant at Sophos. "Social networking sites provide
these criminals with the anonymity they need to trick children and
that's why it's so important that the companies themselves take
steps to protect members and educate them about the dangers of
joining networks and making friends with complete strangers. You
wouldn't invite someone you don't know into your home and nor
should you let them view your online profile."
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In August, Sophos published research showing that 41 percent of
Facebook users were prepared to divulge personal information to
a complete stranger (a small plastic frog called Freddi Staur - an
anagram of 'ID Fraudster').
Freddi Staur, a plastic green frog, was able to
access personal information about people on Facebook.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.