Facebook - so good and yet so bad

I read today in an Information Security e-newsletter (http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/) that Interpol's chief has been the victim of identity theft through his Facebook account and that the criminals involved have used the fake account to get information about a global Interpol-led operation...

This is yet another proof of the huge holes in Facebook security - it seems that not a day goes past without a report about hackers, viruses and phishing campaigns connected to the social networking site.  If the head of Interpol can't protect himself, what hope do we have?

Don't get me wrong; I love Facebook.  It's a brilliant way of keeping in touch and of sharing news and views.  However, I never forget that I'm surfing in a non-regulated and insecure web environment.  It's like walking down a dark street at night - it's a vulnerable place to be. 

Keeping completely safe in Facebook may not be possible - but there are a number of basic sensible things you can do to protect yourself from most of the threats.  My top four are:

1. Make sure you've set up the right privacy levels in your Facebook profile.  Only my friends can see my details, and I don't reveal much even to them! 
2. Never accept someone as a friend if you don't know them.  Sounds obvious, but it's all too easy to accept an invitation thinking that you must know the person, surely?  Also, be selective in your friends.  My rule of thumb is that I only accept those with whom I would hold a conversation if I met them in the street, rather than just say "hello"!
3. Never click on anything unless you're absolutely confident it's the genuine article.  This includes games and quizzes - the Infosecurity site also tells of a phishing campaign aimed at users of the popular FarmVille Facebook game.
4. Make sure your Facebook password is different from all the other passwords you use, and that none of your passwords are related to names or places that appear within your Facebook page.  It would seem that cracking a Facebook account is relatively easy, and if you use the same password for your bank, you could be in trouble.

There are apparently 26 million of us in the UK now on Facebook and it's become as integral part of our lives as email and mobile phones.  A very small minority of those users will be criminals, but they could be after you!