Anyone who has a Facebook knows that spam is commonplace. It is not unusual to log in and find that a “friend” who you never talk to has posted a link on your wall saying “Check out these pictures!,” or that you’ve received a message from a random person telling you to try out a product for free. In fact, we are so used to this spam that most of the time we just ignore it.
After almost 7 years since Facebook was founded, it seems that its owners are finally recognizing more of its security problems and are trying to fix them. The newest improvement allows users to see when and where their accounts are being accessed. Facebook uses information from a users’ IP address to report the operating system, browser, and approximate time and place of a login. A user can view this information by logging on to Facebook and going to the Account Security section under the Account tab. Then, if there was an unauthorized login to the account, they can click “deactivate” to stop this activity.
This control is very useful because it not only gives you a way to stop spammers that have developed ways to log into your account and send hundreds of unwanted messages and wall posts to your friends, but it also enables you to log out of accounts that you’ve accidentally left open. The only major problem that I see with this security control is that it can also be used by the hackers themselves. If someone was already able to log into your account, they could easily go to your account settings and end your activity, making it impossible for you to access your own account. So while this is a significant improvement in Facebook’s security, it still has a long way to go.
I think that requiring users to set complicated passwords and change these passwords every so often would be a good step to make Facebook more secure. Another option would be to use CAPTCHAs (distorted words) to prevent hackers from programming computers to automatically log in to Facebook accounts. These are just a few suggestions, but Facebook is going to need to do a lot more to keep its users secure. This is especially true because of the nature of the site. Few websites have as much information about so many people as Facebook does, and users need to be assured that the information that they put up on this social networking site is safe.
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/security/3238073/facebook-introduces-new-security-measures-that-kicks-out-spammers/
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As an avid Facebook user, I often take for granted everything on the website. The problems Facebook has had with security and privacy over the years has been more than a little frustrating. To be honest, I have never changed my password to log on to Facebook.
ReplyDeleteAlthough they are making the effort to try and protect their users, it should still be the user's responsibility first to try and protect their information and not leave it up to Facebook to protect them. People wouldn't expect to leave their house unlocked and a home security system to be their only protection. Facebook users should spend a little more time protecting their personal information on Facebook themselves and not leave it up to the website to do it for them.
Due to the widespread usage of Facebook worldwide, security improvement is definitely a necessity. And with people putting a lot of important information on their profiles, hackers are devising new ways to access that information. Since technology has improved over recent years and made our lives as humans easier a lot of tasks can be done over the internet such as: paying bills, signing up for jobs, and video chatting with someone from in a different state/country. But with this vast improvement has also come the opportunity for people to view and steal the information we put on the internet. So, as I stated before security and the protection of vital information is extremely important.
ReplyDeleteI notice that with Facebook if a user signs into their account via a cellphone, they can still access their account using a computer without any warning about being signed on at two different locations. I would hope that Facebook would attempt to fix that so a user would know if someone else is accessing their profile. Facebook can also add another level of security, by asking a personal question that only the user would know. I have an email account that is filled with spam mail, and I really hope that my Facebook account does not become filled with spam posts and messages. Users can protect their information by making sure to log out of their profile if they switch locations. Also, they can make a difficult password so computer programs designed by hackers with have a difficult time accessing users' profiles and information.