A hacker created the Facebook torrent that is accessible to any person who wants files from Facebook data. 171 million Facebook users had their info stolen by a web sprawling code made by Ron Bowes. This torrent file is about 2.8 GB and is available to anyone online. Facebook made their comment on the issue saying all the information is what could be found with a search engine and doesn’t matter all that much. feel like this is just another example of how easy it is to hack Facebook with all of the privacy issues they’ve been having lately.
Details taken from 171 million Facebook users
The Facebook torrent contains names, profile URLs and unique user IDs for 171 million Facebook members. Daily Tech reports that Bowes, who heads a company called Skull Security, posted the Facebook torrent on Pirate Bay. 13,000 downloads were active July 28, early in the morning. Details Facebook users didn’t hide with privacy setting is shown here. Everyone who worked out their privacy settings to say only friends could see their info aren’t in this torrent that Bowes created.
Facebook and privacy
The Facebook torrent emerges after multiple changes have been made to Facebook privacy settings to make user data more accessible for commercial use. 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. Tech Crunch thinks that in light of recent events, it would probably be a good precaution to change all your settings on Facebook so they are “friends only.” You aren’t going to be happy when individuals put all of your details into a package and let it loose for those who want it just because you set your settings to “everyone”.
Nothing can change what’s happened with Facebook torrent
Facebook said the personal details mined and distributed within the Facebook torrent could be found by any person on Google, Bing or Facebooksearch. The Facebook torrent contains a simple snapshot in one moment in time of Facebook that will last forever, reports Future. Going forward when users delete their accounts or restrict their Facebook privacy settings, that personal info remains accessible to the world on the Facebook torrent.
Friends of users main focus of Facebook torrent
Bowes decided to include within the torrent the programs used to get all the information to steal from one fifth of Facebook users. Tech Crunch explains that Bowes wants more than just searchable users and intends to get the rest. By default, it is not likely Facebook will change to friends only, which is what individuals want and threatening to quit for-
Go to Account and Privacy Settings and Applications, Games, and Websites (link near the bottom, in a box) and Public Search and (Uncheck box).
Find more details on this subject
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
