A hacker created the Facebook torrent that is accessible to anyone who wants files from Facebook data. 171 million Facebook users had their info stolen by a web sprawling code made by Ron Bowes. The file, about 2.8 GB, has been posted online as a torrent. Facebook made their comment on the issue saying all the info is what could be found with a search engine and doesn’t matter all that much. But others say the Facebook torrent is one more indictment of Facebook privacy policy, and users should be concerned.
171 million Facebook users hurt
Profile URLs, names, and user IDs of 171 million Facebook users are now being displayed for anybody who wants to get the info. Daily Tech reports that Bowes, who heads a company called Skull Security, posted the Facebook torrent on Pirate Bay. As of the morning of July 28, the Facebook torrent had about 13,000 active downloads on Pirate Bay. The data that Bowes scraped and packaged contains info Facebook users have either chosen to share or neglected to protect. Anybody who worked out their privacy settings to say only friends could see their info aren’t in this torrent that Bowes created.
Facebook privacy issues
Facebook privacy setting were changed most recently for commercial use which is why individuals are more concerned with this Facebook torrent. BBC News has a statement from Facebook saying nobody is going to be hurt by the privacy changed since personal info individuals “agreed to make public” on their own. However, Tech Crunch said with the advent of the Facebook torrent hack, now would be a good time for the default Facebook privacy settings to change to “Friends Only.” You aren’t going to be happy when individuals put all of your details into a package and let it loose for individuals who want it just because you set your settings to “everyone”.
Permanent details with the Facebook torrent
The Facebook torrent information is available to any person who uses the search engines Google, Bing or Facebooksearch. Future reminds us the Facebook torrent will last forever since it is just a quick shot of one time on Facebook. The information can never go away, even when users delete their accounts or change their privacy settings.
Facebook torrent hacker targets friends of users
In addition to the personal data for one fifth of all Facebook users, the Facebook torrent contains the programs Bowes used to mine the data. Bowes said he wants to try and get everybody on Facebook soon, reports Tech Crunch. Until Facebook switches to friends only by default, which is unlikely, users opt out-
Go to Account and Privacy Settings and Applications, Games, and Sites (link near the bottom, in a box) and Public Search and (Uncheck box).
Further reading
Daily Tech
dailytech.com/Info+on+100M+Facebook+Users+Harvested+and+Posted+in+Torrent++Legally/article19198.htm
Tech Crunch
techcrunch.com/2010/07/28/hacker-proves-facebooks-public-data-is-public/
Future of the Internet
futureoftheinternet.org/facebooks-ocean-of-names-becomes-a-torrent
