Saturday, February 13, 2010

Facebook Third Party Applications and Hackers



I do not participate in third party applications on facebook or twitter- never have, as it is free gaming and greeting only so they can use your information to market you and everyone on your friend list. That is the very least of your problems...

Now, it goes even farther into actual dangerous and destructive activity involving your computer and you, AND IT GOES UNDETECTED BY THE MAJOR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. However, even though these apps are used by hackers for malicious activity, the app craze has multiplied since the attacks began almost a year ago. Aside from the hackers, this is the open and general policy of the apps companies--which you agree to when you click on [ALLOW] :

Use of Personal Information
We use the Personal Information we collect about you to provide our services and features to you, to manage and improve those services and features, and to tailor and customize our services and features to your individual needs and interests. For example, we use your ID and password to control access to your account profile; we may use your email address to send you service related communications, to provide you with customer support, and to send you information about products or services you choose to receive; we may use your birth date to determine your age so that we can direct your access to age appropriate content and advertisements; we may use information about you and your friends to make advertisements more interesting and tailored; we may disclose relevant Personal Information about you in order to help you communicate and socialize with your friends and to achieve your goal in using our services and features; your name or screen name may be disclosed through search indexes.

Sharing of Personal Information with Third Parties
We may share information about your activities, content preferences and other information with other social networks and websites which you have authorized us to connect you with or from which you have connected to us, along with those third parties that you have asked or authorized us to share your information with.

We may also provide your Personal Information to third-party service providers who contract with us to provide some of the services and features we offer to you or to help us better operate and manage our services.

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If this invasion of your privacy and use of your friends is of no importance, congratulations! I didn't buy a top of the line PC so some perverted perpetrator somewhere across the world or in his mother's basement can control it, or ruin it. Because you have given permission through a trusted site, you have no firewall or virus protection. It all comes down to a few simple commands and you are theirs, forever, or until you format your hard drive. Ignorance is bliss to the hacker.

I post notices all the time regarding my lack of desire to participate, but, has always gone ignored except by a respectful few. These hackers are serious and not playing games, and they are doing it for hire, for another party. They began bragging awhile back--how easy it is to hack facebook and personal email passwords using these third party apps.

Once hacked, they can send emails to everyone on your list, FROM YOU, containing serious viruses and identification theft malware. My constant WARNINGS have fallen, for the most part, on deaf ears. Its just like Obama and his band of fools---nobody wants to believe the utmost truth, until Glenn Beck says it six months too late. As of late, the hackers got clever and scroll down with blank page entry below the short (usually just a few words) message including a "must see" link. This conseals the "REPLY" button so it appears non-existant, to hinder the attempt of warning from the savvy user to the rest of the recipients.

The hackers seem to focus on Christians, Independents, and Conservatives. As I said, they are mostly paid by another party, or entity. Facebook and Twitter are in no big hurry to stop the "easy" hacking ability, as the third party funds are quite handsome, as long as someone participates. Twitter, at least, takes some precautions to protect their users. Originally, participation only meant you allowed them to accumulate information about you and your friends. That has all changed, and as thousands fall victim to the hackers (in spite of the constant warnings) by clicking on the anonymous links (bit.ly) usually in a short message like "you gotta see this" or "a video you'll like" from people you know, facebook offers nothing. They don't charge the average user, and its like the community beach---No techs on duty/surf at your own risk.

Lately, there is a barage of wall postings, from friend's accounts, of vulgar pictures and messages. Most are embarrassed and discontinue use of apps. I have encountered some peeps (even Christians) that do not care they are placing their friends at risk and continue to blatantly keep sending the nuscence (at best) greetings that initiate the attacks. These people I defriend. I do not understand the ignorance and fascination. The problem occurs when unsuspecting recipients click on the loaded, fraudulent messages and photos to reply, or return. Once you click they own you. Some people you just can't reach!

Another facebook controvercy... Facebook’s rules are extensive and clearly listed on their “Statement of Rights” page. However there are terms used that are open to interpretation. Most specifically the nature of content posted on personal and group pages is open to scrutiny and judgment by Facebook staff; action taken by Facebook against its users sometimes appears arbitrary and harsh. Accounts are disabled or removed generally with no warning or explanation. Returning to the site and recovering one’s content can be difficult or impossible. For people with large “friends lists” or who use Facebook for professional purposes loss of their Facebook account can have unpleasant consequences. For many users especially those who access their accounts throughout the day via mobile device (blackberry, etc.) Facebook is an almost ubiquitous communications tool. Read More...

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