By Stevie Smith Dec 18, 2007, 11:26 GMT
Back in the news yet again, popular social networking Web site Facebook is this week turning its legal guns on the pornography industry following accusations that one particular porn company has recently attempted to hack its database in order to pilfer the personal details of Facebook users.
Social networking site Facebook accuses porn company of server hacking to lift user details. Credit: Facebook.
According to court documents regarding the case, which were filed by Facebook in San Jose, California, the social network’s servers were subjected to some 200,000 hack attacks over a period of two weeks during the summer of 2007, reports the Times Online.
Facebook is subsequently pointing accusatory fingers at Istra Holdings, a company which, in turn, controls SlickCash.com, an online outfit that awards cash commissions to Web publishers willing to filter Internet users to its raft of porn-driven destinations.
Facebook is claiming that the attacks were made in an attempt to force its computer servers to dispatch user information through to the defendant’s Internet address. Facebook is yet to confirm whether the attacks were successful and that user information was indeed filched back to the address in question.
The reaction of experts in the Web security field suggest that Facebook’s growing online profile, which reportedly boasts some 55 million registered users, makes it a prime target for those technologically-minded criminals looking to gather personal data en masse in order to implement waves of spam e-mail and target individuals in ID theft scams.
In a related story, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recently issued widespread warnings concerning the posting of personal data to social Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. The ICO advised online users to "wise up" to the risks associated with social networking, and act accordingly.
Bearing that in mind, users should avoid posting their birthdates, home address, e-mail address and telephone number, all of which offer ID thieves more than enough information to begin an attack that could see credit cards opened in the user’s name, substantial loans approved, and masses of monetary debt created. Wise up indeed.
Neither Istra Holdings nor SlickCash have offered comment on the matter.
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