IT security and control firm Sophos is again reminding internet
users that their personal information may be being placed at risk -
and is perhaps best kept off the internet - following news that
popular social networking website 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 website'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.
"It's great that Facebook has fixed this loophole, but
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," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Of course,
this isn't the first time that Facebook has found itself in the
spotlight for not properly securing its users' information. Just
last month, a security
loophole was found that could have allowed identity thieves and
spammers to gather users' personal email addresses. Maybe people
need to learn that if they really want to be secure on social
networks they shouldn't rely on the website keeping their data safe
and sound - maybe it's better not to upload any personal
information in the first place."
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.