Many adding complete strangers on Facebook
Posted November 7, 2011 8:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A UBC study has found that Facebook‘s security system is not so secure. Researchers at the school have created fake profiles on the social networking site in an attempt to test how safe it is.
These so called “socialbots” have sent friend requests to about 5,000 random Facebook users, and once they’ve been accepted as friends they were able to get valuable information like email addresses, phone numbers and friends lists.
We asked people in Vancouver what they thought about the possible gap in security on the popular social networking site. Emily says she wouldn’t fall for this kind of trap. “I’ve never come across a name that looks suspicious but I wouldn’t add them if I didn’t know them. It’s just a network for me and my friends, not people I don’t know.”
We also chatted with Monique who says she was almost stalked over the Internet, so now she is more cautious when adding people she doesn’t know.
The researchers say 80 per cent of those users were willing to add complete strangers.
