Facebook & ID theft

This is something for social networkers to be on the alert about: computer security and social engineering on social-networking sites (social engineering is what phishers and identity thieves use to trick people into making themselves and their devices vulnerable to hacks and ID theft). The latest warning signal concerns Facebook, which recently announced it's becoming a social-networking platform for all kinds of online services and widgets. "While thousands of applications being developed by third parties for Facebook users are enriching the social network's functionality, the Facebook Platform provides a perfect channel for distributing malicious software," CNET reports. To be fair, experts quoted in the article are talking more about the potential than actual attacks. And, "while Facebook third-party developers do not necessarily have access to Facebook members' personal details, whether users agree to install an application is ultimately a caveat emptor scenario" - meaning read the fine print before you agree to install stuff, people!