the intention of this post is not to belittle or insult anyone. sorry if the tone comes across like that in some parts. i am just getting tired of seeing the "my account has been hacked" or "my profile has been cloned do not accept any requests" comments floating around the grand social network. as far as i can work out, the whole thing is nonsense, or at least nothing new. people have been setting up "fake" profiles since the whole thing began, after all.
first off, "hacking". if someone has hacked your account, that means they have got hold of your login name and, most importantly, password. they have then gone into your account and done whatever. you somewhere along the road have disclosed your password to someone. silly.
what is not hacking is when, despite all the warnings, you click on things that look shiny or exciting and give whoever owns the application (if you will, "app") permission to do what they like with your details and your friend list.
there is no such software that allows you to see who has been viewing your profile or anything you have been doing. got that? good. when you see a link to something that says you can see this, it is a lie. they just rip the details of yourself and all your friends, and them bombard them with an invitation on your behalf so that they can get even more information.
the same is true of these "you have to see this video" invitations, and indeed those "share this picture to stand the chance of winning an iTwat device" things. they are all con tricks, and when you click "accept" in either greed or curiosity you are willingly allowing someone to access your details and pester your friends.
on facebook, as in the real world, if it looks too good to be true then it is likely to be just that. stop clicking on rubbish assuming that "it's on facebook so it must be true".
now, flavour of the month seems to be the idea that people are having their facebook page "cloned". a fake facebook page in your name is, apparently, set up and they set about re-inviting your existing friend list to this fake one to ask them for money.
there are some major flaws in this con trick, but first, if for no other reason to make this post all pretty with pictures, here's how to tell if you have been "cloned" and indeed how to make sure you are not.
first, before you run around with status update about how you've been cloned / copied / "hacked" and that no one should accept invitations, how about you check to see if there's a fake profile for you? how do you do that? search your own name!
no one, alas, seems to have decided to pretend to be me. that's a good thing, i guess, but also a little bit disappointing. i mean, it would be kind of flattering, in a sense.
moving on, and if the above is not the case for you - as in there's a fake profile you find when you search - then report it at once! if there's no fake profile and you wish to ensure that no one sets up a tribute act to you, here's what to do. on your profile page, click the pen next to the "find friends" button and select "edit privacy".
this will take you to the below menu option, which as you can see for yourself controls who can see what in regards of all details.
honestly, i don't mind my friends seeing who my friends are, as you can see below. if one friend tried to contact another and that other one didn't like it i would trust that other one to either ignore the person or tell them to "do one". you can, if you like, set it so that no one can see anything by just selecting the "only me" setting.
note, however, if you click on those "see who has been looking at your profile" or "share this pic" applications, then you will still give access to those people. so, once again, don't click on rubbish like that.
as for this idea of people cloning profiles to ask your friends for money, well, it's just stupid when you think about it. anyone pretending to be me and asking my friends for money will no doubt simply get the response "f*** off you twat". your friends and family might be a bit more polite than that. i mean, are they really going to act only on a facebook request?
even if you have a friend or family member who is as much of a simpleton to say "yes OK", then how exactly is this impersonator going to get the money? exactly.
the press and various forms of media love making mountains from flat ground when it comes to facebook. it is as secure a service to use as you choose to make it. if you spread details all over, or click on silly things and give permission to someone to use all of your details, that is hardly a facebook security flaw.
the truly paranoid should just get off facebook, and indeed the internet, to tell the truth.
hope this has been of some help to someone!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment