Basically, if you've got personal details, ie: mobile number/address/dob displayed on your account (I know some of you do), you are leaving yourself open to identity fraud and shit.
Facebook's code leak raises fears of fraud
· Bug blamed for security concerns on popular site
· Networkers in growing danger of identity theft
* Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent
* The Guardian
* Monday August 13 2007
Experts are warning internet users to be more careful with their private information after secret code from the popular social-networking site Facebook was published on the internet.
This is the first time that some of the site's secret operational code has been made public. Although it does not allow hackers to access private information directly, it could help criminals close in on personal data, according to one expert.
Nik Cubrilovic, of Techcrunch.com, said: "This leak is not good news for Facebook, as it raises the question of how secure a user's private data really is. Facebook has become such a success and has such a high profile that it has become a magnet for attacks against its systems."
The Facebook craze has been sweeping the world, and the site now has more than 30 million users, including 3.5 million in Britain. New users registering for a profile on the site usually publish their date of birth and home town for anybody to see, and in many cases let approved friends see more personal details such as their home address and telephone number. Though this information is semi-private, criminals who become "friends" with other users have the potential to find out much more information about them.
The company blamed the leaked code on a "bug" that meant that it was published accidentally, and said users should not be concerned. Facebook's spokeswoman, Brandee Barker, said: "It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way."
Facebook has been the centre of controversy in recent weeks. A US court is in the process of hearing claims that the website's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, stole the idea for the site and advertisers including Vodafone and the AA pulled their money from the site after discovering that their adverts were being shown on pages run by the British National Party.
The leak comes hot on the heels of warnings that social-networking sites are honey pots for identity thieves. Last month the credit information group Equifax warned people against putting too much personal information on social-networking websites.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said: "More and more consumers are signing up to these sites every day and chances are they'll put on their date of birth, location, email, job and marital status. Fraudsters can use this information to steal an individual's identity and open accounts in their name."
Figures released recently by CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, show that a record number of frauds were committed in the first six months of 2007, including an estimated 40,000 identity thefts. And according to the payments industry association Apacs, online banking fraud increased by 44% last year. CIFAS called the numbers "worryingly high" and pegged the cost of ID fraud in Britain at about £1.5bn a year.
The government's approach to internet crime came under the spotlight this week after a parliamentary report accused it of an "outdated" and "inefficient" approach. The House of Lords science and technology select committee suggested that public- and private-sector services needed better ways to deal with the rise of online fraud and hacking, and recommended the formation of a new national police squad charged with reducing online crime.
