# Facebook security sucks! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773 "2010-06-19T13:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/21 "2010-06-20T05:52:21Z")
Well, I just got my account back. Facebook says the hijacker was in Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/22 "2010-06-20T05:59:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Well, I just got my account back. Facebook says the hijacker was in Russia. In Russia hacker come to you! (Sorry, but I was going to post about the name Czarcasm being appealing in Russia). ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/23 "2010-06-20T18:14:13Z")
Our work computer virus scanner just found a few Trojans. Some research indicated they may be from playing games or taking polls on Facebook. Could this have been his it was hacked? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/24 "2010-06-20T18:34:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I set the account on the counter at the lunchroom, went to get my chocolate pudding cup, and when I came back it was gone!\ Well, that’s what you get for leaving your things lying around. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/25 "2010-06-21T15:29:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Ah. But then that’s not “real money”, so what’s the point? Simply to gain an advantage in a little Facebook game? Jeez. > I have a Facebook account but I hardly ever use it and I never play any of the games and ignore all invites to everything. The reason is that stuff is worth real money. Not REALLY related, but I had an online gaming account stolen briefly from me last year–I got it and my stuff back, but meanwhile the guy who stole it sold my things on ebay for a cumulative total of $550 or so. Do that a few times a week and you don’t need a job anymore, especially say if you live in China. You might be surprised at how seriously people take even things like Farmville to the point of spending real money on them. So scammers steal accounts and sell whatever they can for slightly less than the “official” price to other people. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/26 "2010-06-21T15:48:43Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Personally, I am utterly baffled as to why anyone, anywhere, feels to the need to have a Facebook account or to be involved with them in anyway. Other than the obvious social aspect of it, it’s a great business tool. I don’t actively market myself through Facebook (though there is an album of my work on there), but I have gotten several thousands of dollars worth of work through it, just from old reconnected friends/acquaintances, or by their word of mouth. There’s plenty of reasons to use Facebook. If it’s not for you, though, it’s not for you, but I’m baffled with how anyone could be confused as Facebook’s utility and appeal. Now, Twitter, on the other hand… That one I don’t completely understand. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/27 "2010-06-21T16:03:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who here with a decent number of Facebook friends could match 5 random profile pictures with their owners without fail? Me. Because I don’t add strangers, just people I actually know. I’d imagine the majority of folks who use Facebook are in a similar boat, so that’s why this is in general a good recovery system. ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/28 "2010-06-21T16:42:52Z")
Well, Ifigured out nothing was secure about Facebook when my password (my car) started somehow generating ads for my car and part stores with my car’s name, even without previous mention of the make and model anywhere on my page or messages. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/29 "2010-06-21T16:54:43Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Me. Because I don’t add strangers, just people I actually know. I’d imagine the majority of folks who use Facebook are in a similar boat, so that’s why this is in general a good recovery system. I don’t add strangers, and I only have 79 friends, but I couldn’t identify most of their profile pictures on a dare. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/30 "2010-06-21T17:08:59Z")
Yeah, obviously I can tell the difference between my best friend and my cousin Sam, but people use all kinds of junk as profile pictures. Some people post their dogs, or their garden, or vacations photos from their trip to China, and whatever else. If facebook ever asked me to identify whose photo this Lakers logo belongs to, I’d fail. Hell if I know all of that. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/31 "2010-06-21T17:10:02Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Me. Because I don’t add strangers, just people I actually know. I’d imagine the majority of folks who use Facebook are in a similar boat, so that’s why this is in general a good recovery system. I only add people I actually know and I only have something like 35 friends but I doubt I could identify any 5 at random. I’m in the 50+ age group, and most of my FB friends are old pals and aquaintances from high school and college. While I have retained MY looks and look just as I did at age 20, most of my friends haven’t and they look drastically different today. Add to that the common practice of using odd pictures ( my nephew has a picture of himself in a swimming pool but I would be hard pressed to ID even the gender of the swimmer if I didn’t know it was him ) and non-pictures ( cartoons and stuff). When I found many of these old friends on FB I didn’t recognize their photos, I knew I had the right “Joe Smith” or whatever by the background info and mutual friends. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773/32 "2010-06-22T20:23:00Z")
Besides the issue of “profile photos that aren’t actually of people,” you also have the issue of “photo of someone I haven’t seen in person since college, or high school, or even grade school.” Hell, there are guys I \*dated \*who I barely recognize in their photos. > [@LouisB](#): > > Personally, I am utterly baffled as to why anyone, anywhere, feels to the need to have a Facebook account or to be involved with them in anyway. For me, it’s a big address book, as well as a way to coordinate activities (especially larger events like friends’ bands shows, shooting scenes for friends’ films or music videos, fundraisers for things like a friend’s SRS, etc.). > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Other than to be a jerk, why would anyone steal a Facebook account? Is there a profit motive for doing that? Besides the things previously mentioned, hijacked accounts can be used to spam invitations to people to groups that contain links to virus-infested websites (ostensibly offering free gadgets, movie downloads, etc.). > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I have no idea how my account was hacked. You seem to play a lot of FB games. How careful are you about the applications you add? (Or is it even possible to get hacked through a FB app?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-security-sucks/543773.md?page=1)