A simple experiment conducted by researchers from Sophos using Facebook indicate that out of the 200 friend requests sent by a fake member, over 70% provided personal information such as birthdate and personal e-mail addresses.  About 87% also offered information about where they went to school and where they worked.  With this kind of willingness to divulge personal data in many social networking websites, it’s no wonder phishing scams continue to thrive.

Does Facebook lead to phishing?
Facebook is currently one of the biggest social networking sites on the internet.  It is also the site considered as a gold mine by many scam artists.

The object of social networking sites like Facebook is to connect people and give them the tool to share information with other members.  Unfortunately, this very capability makes many Facebook and social networking site members vulnerable to a phishing or malware attack.

When privacy settings are not enough
Although Facebook offers different privacy settings on its site, they do not completely protect the users.  Nick Sullivan, Symantec’s security researcher, calls this sense of privacy an ‘illusion’.

Facebook members often provide certain personal information such as e-mail and physical addresses, birthdates, work information, even phone numbers.  To a clever scam artist, all these data may be collected freely and used to build a profile about the member. 

As soon as that happens, it should only be a matter of time before the phishing attack is unleashed.  Without knowing it, Facebook members become victims of a phishing attack by simply performing what most social networking site members will label as ‘normal’ processes.

It’s not the first time that Facebook encountered a problem with their privacy vulnerabilities. 

Although it wasn’t a security breach, it still showed the platform’s weak points.  This, in spite of the fact that Facebook uses a mark-up language of its own.  However, Facebook is not taking the threats lightly.  It is currently working to ensure that it implements tougher and safer online security for its members.

Protecting your Facebook account
There are always risks when you join social networking sites such as Facebook.  The important thing to do is to be careful about your personal data.  This extends to your e-mail addresses, physical addresses, birthdate, phone numbers and the like.  Even pictures posted online can reveal more things about you without your knowing it. 

Use discretion when you receive friend requests.  You can still expand your own network but avoid giving out any personal information.  Facebook may be exposed to phishing scams but then again, which social networking site isn’t?  With a little common sense you can prevent these attacks from harming you.

Re-Tweet This Post