Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

December 9, 2009

How to Hack Facebook: The Trick is Social Engineering

It is often neither security loopholes nor password cracking that allow people access our private information on Facebook without our approval. It’s actually our own human nature: the trust of a friend’s name.

Don't add anyone as a friend

Don't add just any person as a friend

Whether you like Facebook or not, the truth remains that Facebook is one of the best mainstream websites around when it comes to providing options with which you can protect your privacy.  Every time anyone discovers a new method for hacking private information, the guys at Facebook patch it the next day. What their security engineers cannot do though is teach the users to tell a social engineer apart from a friend.

And that’s why you need to be aware of this: the easiest way to hack Facebook today is by borrowing a chapter from psychology class. Hackers are not hacking as programmers anymore, they’re hacking as social engineers.

Huh?

[read full article >>]

August 3, 2009

Should Twitter, Youtube & Facebook be Banned from the Workplace?

Do social media tools, channels and sites pose a threat to the quality of work produced in the workplace? Do we realize the actual negative outcomes of using social media within working hours? Is it morally unethical to spend a portion of the 8 to 9 daily working hours utilizing social media for personal use? Do you think social media use should be completely banned from the workplace?

The Web's top visited sites are social media sites - should they be banned at the workplace?

The Web's top visited sites are social media sites - should they be banned at the workplace?

Whether it be Facebook, Mixx, Reddit, Digg, Youtube, Twitter or any other social media channel of your preference, it is a fact that most of the tools, sites and channels, which flourished as a result of Web 2.0, are of a time-consuming nature. Naturally, if you are to waste your own private time working around those channels; sharing information, watching clips, meeting new people, chatting or listening to music, then it would be acceptable. But what about when your utilization of those channels gets out of your own room, home and free time and steps into your working hours?

The way I see it, and from personal experience, unless your job description dictates that you utilize social media for public relations, marketing, promotion, engagement and interaction with potential clients, social media could cause severe discrepancies between the quality of work you do and the quality of work that should be achieved!

Why would that happen?

Allow me to present you with the 5 top reasons why I am completely against the use social media within the workplace: [read full article >>]