04. June 2011

Facebook logo (Photo: wikipedia.com)
This week seems to be unlucky for Facebook, the billion dollar social networking site which was founded in 2003, due to the number of cyber attacks like hacking attempts done towards it. Just a few days back in the start of June, there were reports of malicious videos on the website that would affect the person differently depending on whether the victim was a Mac or a PC user. But but nevertheless, it managed to hack either users by tricking them into downloading a phony virus laden anti-virus program which would purposely redirect them to pornographic websites if they did not pay for the software license. But even after that predicament, Facebook cannot sigh in relief as there were reports of a UK youth who tried to hack into the Facebook website, which showed that people will not stop at anything, when it comes to Facebook hacking.
The man from UK, who is a 26 year old youth, was arrested by the London Metropolitian police force for attempts to access the main parts of the website without authorized approval. Facebook has also collaborated with the London Metropolitian along with the aid of the FBI to catch hold of the man. Even though Facebook claims that no personal data loss or security breach was detected due to this hacking attempt, they want to incriminate the man because, being a website used by hundreds of millions of people, they take personal security very seriously and plan to jeopardize any attempts to hack it away, regardless of the motives. The police authorities failed to mention further details regarding the man like name and residence. But all is known that the man was arrested from Yorkshire and is currently scheduled to be released on a bond, for an undisclosed amount.
The news was first discovered on Twitter by the journalist Rob Peierce who works with the Yorkshire post. He claims that he will have another report on his arrest ready by the end of Saturday.
It is assuring for the average Facebook user that the company has taken such a prompt and strict action against a person who had just attempted to hack, regardless of his motives. Since Facebook is used by more than 500 million people globally, it is imperative that these people will be interconnected and trusting to each other in one way or the other. A smart enough hacker can disguise as an ordinary user looking for friends and is bound to misuse the personal information of the people he has befriended, and there will be no way to track him down for sure. This kind of upper hand gained by the hackers is not only hazardous to the users but also to the company, in terms of reputation and market share.
(rockefellernews/yk)
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