Facebook Fan Pages: Dangers and Threats

Facebook has become a worldwide phenomenon. With more than 800 million users, it has become the biggest social network man has ever produced on the internet. Of course, given this number of users, protecting the privacy and personal information of each user can become a daunting task and here, Facebook development has some challenges. Let’s face it, the current status of Facebook security and privacy issues is dreary. To top it off, even Facebook co-founder, president and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently had his Facebook fan page hacked. Now, that’s not very encouraging. If a man of such status in Facebook can have his fan page hacked, how much more are other company’s and individual’s fan pages? Then again, what dangers are actually posed by these fan pages? So companie have a social media policy?

Dissecting Facebook Fan Pages

For businesses who want to advertise their brand, products and services online, Facebook fan pages are one of the best options because of the exposure that can be generated when Facebook users “like” their pages. What most users do not realize, however, is the fact that when these pages are “liked” or applications are authorized, the developer of the application or of the page can have access to all the private information of their fans including their name, friends list, location, and any other content that is marked available to everyone. Of course, this can pose real security threats especially when these accounts are hacked by dissolute individuals who want to make quick bucks out of other people’s personal information. For instance, people who grants authorization to a particular company’s application or fan page is actually allowing this company to access their personal email. When these are shared, spammers, identity theft criminals and hackers can now come into play through various strategies and techniques to gain access to more personal information.

Trust Issues: Should Companies Trust Facebook

Given the current Facebook privacy settings and security, the decision to trust Facebook to secure their fan pages should be left on the discretion of the company. A lot of critics are campaigning against Facebook, offering advices as extreme as not opening an account with the popular social networking site or closing down any account any user currently has. Fan pages can boost a company’s revenue and companies should rally for tightened security and if possible, incorporation of a tighter security measures like anti-virus software to protect not only the company’s fan page but of their “fans” as well. Be careful who you “fan”.

For more help on Social Media security issues, read the book “Securing the Clicks: Network Security in the Age of Social Media”