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Facebook risks dissected at AusCERT

At the AusCERT 2010 security conference at the Gold Coast, delegates expressed how important it is for users to pay attention to social network privacy settings, or risk losing money sometime down the track.
Written by Munir Kotadia, Contributor

At the AusCERT 2010 security conference at the Gold Coast, delegates expressed how important it is for users to pay attention to social network privacy settings, or risk losing money sometime down the track.

Delegates warned that criminals are using social networks to gather personal data, which could be used to steal wealth — a far cry from the normal fear of having embarrassing photos available for all to see.

Social networks such as Facebook have been thought of as dangerous because some things are never able to be deleted, attendees cautioned, so that teenagers currently using the site might regret their posts and participation in future years.

"What they harvest now, they'll cook later," said Bill Caelli adjunct professor for the Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology.

Facebook has been under fire recently for its lack of consideration of privacy issues. It once again updated its privacy settings this week, making it easier for its 450 million users to choose how much information they share, and with whom.

Munir Kotadia travelled to the conference as a guest of AusCERT.

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