Freddi Staur ate my Facebook

Four in ten Facebook users are happy to divulge personal information to a complete stranger, according to research.

Security firm Sophos set up a spoof identity - Freddi Staur, an anagram of 'ID fraudster' - and sent out friend requests to random individuals.

Freddi, a green plastic frog, sent out 200 requests to see how many would respond and how much personal information they would give away.

"Freddi may look like a happy green frog that just wants to be friends, but actually he's happy because he's just encouraged 82 users to hand over their personal details on a plate," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Seventy-two per cent of those targeted by Freddi divulged one or more email addresses and 78 per cent gave their current address. Twenty-three per cent even gave away their home telephone number.

"While accepting friend requests is unlikely to result directly in theft, it is an enabler, giving cybercriminals many of the building blocks they need to spoof identities, to gain access to online user accounts, or potentially, to infiltrate their employers' computer networks," continued Cluley.

The research comes on the back of warnings that Facebook code had been leaked onto the internet, potentially allowing hackers to analyse it for vulnerabilities to attack. The company said yesterday that no personal data had been exposed.

Sophos warned of the dangers of giving away too much information about yourself when using social networking sites.

"People need to realise that this is still unsolicited communication, despite it occurring within Facebook, and users must employ the same basic precautions - such as not responding in any way - to prevent exposure to wrongdoers," Cluley said.

But Cluley emphasised that it was the carelessness of the individual and not Facebook itself that was to blame.

"It's important to remember that Facebook's privacy features go far beyond those of many competing social networking sites. This is about the human factor - people undoing all that good work through carelessness and being preoccupied with the kudos of having more Facebook friends than their peers, which could have a serious impact on business security, if accessed in the workplace," said Cluley.

www.sophos.com

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