Internet security company Sophos has taken a big swipe at Facebook claiming that the social network site should adopt tighter security measures to protect its users.They claim that Facebook is not monitoring applications “like Apple” does and that the social network site is endangering their 650 million users.
They claim that Facebook should adopt the same strategy as Apple’s App Store, which vets all programs available for download. In their 2011 Threat Report Sophos claims that Facebook is now one of the biggest targets for criminals and fraudsters.
This is partially because of the site’s size and popularity – but also because Facebook allows anyone to build applications, games, surveys and other programs. The most popular ones have been downloaded tens of millions of times.
Shortly after the release of the report Facebook hit back claiming that it already has “extensive” protection for users.
“We have a dedicated team that does robust reviews of all third party applications, using a risk based approach,” the firm said.
“That means that we first look at velocity, number of users, types of data shared, and prioritise. This ensures that the team is focused on addressing the biggest risks, rather than just doing a cursory review at the time that an app is first launched.”
The report claims that Facebook policies leaves inexperienced users vulnerable to attacks from malicious hackers who are increasingly building fake applications that trick people into handing over their private information.
“Facebook, by far the largest social networking system and the most targeted by cybercrimnals, has a major problem in the form of its app system,” it says.
