In the space of five short years, the social networking phenomenon called Facebook has taken the Internet by storm. It seems like everyone has a Facebook page. While there is no doubt that it allows people to communicate and collaborate more efficiently than ever before, there's also a downside.
Facebook has a number of security and privacy challenges associated with it. The problem of receiving unwanted communications from somebody is a very common one. It's especially tough when that person is someone you know. However, at least from a technical standpoint, these problems are manageable. Facebook and other interested parties have done a good job of publishing information that will make your Facebook experience more secure and more private.
There is one basic principle to keep in mind - nobody can communicate with you on Facebook unless you allow the communication. This is managed through your friends lists, your block list and your privacy options. You can allow everyone, no one, friends only or friends of friends to access all or parts of your page. The default setting for many Facebook functions is to allow everyone. That's one of the associated challenges I mentioned earlier. If you tighten up permissions, if you don't list someone as a friend or if you block them, they can't keep sending stuff.
It's important to understand that no security scheme is airtight. There are a couple of ways that someone might be able to sneak through. They could attempt to send you a message using a friend's email account and posing as them. They might invent a new person with a new e-mail account and send you a friend request. However, both scenarios are easily detected and fixed.
Someone could be communicating as a friend of a friend, so they might not show up on your own friends list. However, you can tighten the security settings and block "friends of friends" to fix that scenario.
Some Facebook users have so many friends that they can't keep track of them all. In fact, there are competitions for bragging rights as to who can accumulate the most friends. If one of them is the source of a problem, it can be difficult to root it out.
Effective Facebook security necessitates managing your friends lists. Choose your friends carefully, don't "friend" someone you don't know and periodically do some house cleaning of your lists. It takes some work but that's the nature of security. There's no such thing as "set and forget." Remember that today's friend can be tomorrow's harasser.
Lastly, someone may discover or guess your password, meaning they can login as the owner of the Facebook account and do anything they want, including changing all the security settings. The only defense against this is to have a strong password and keep it to yourself. If you have any reason to suspect password problems, change your password immediately. There's no defense against a compromised password.
Here are two very helpful guides that will show you step by step how to make Facebook more secure. You'll see all the things I just mentioned and a lot more.
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/12/facebook-privacy-new/ - This is a great article on the new (i.e., less private) settings in Facebook and how to increase the security levels.
http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety - This is Facebook's online security center. You don't have to login to use it. This is a good page to scan now and then so you know what's in it if you need it.
In security, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Choose your friends carefully, limit the personal information you publish and keep your password strong and safe. These simple proactive measures will go a long way to enhance the safety and effectiveness of Facebook.
Drew Langston is a retired intelligence officer, former systems administrator and part-time instructor and consultant. He first got his hands on a computer in 1987 and has been in the field ever since. Along the way he earned numerous industry certifications including MCSE, MCT and CISSP along with a Master's degree in Network Security. He now writes about computer and security issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment