Security Vendors and Facebook: sold your souls to the devil ?

Just musing ..

I see all the Security Vendors and corporations have Facebook pages..
Obvious rationale: Leveraging exposure...giant free advertising arena..
( not sure about free for corporates ?? )

Hhmm..?
At the same time the security world is awash with warnings re facebook issues.
Privacy
Malware
Phishing/Data Theft
Ghost identities

Many "web gurus" have admitted to being caught out by "check this nude of Julia Gillard" links from a friend..

Plenty of warnings re facebook and time wasting, security leaks into place of work...
Advertise there sure .. but tell all the network admins to lock it out...


Facebook itself imho is the most successful keylogger to date: what ever you post there: is grabbed.

Privacy on Facebook: Erm:... could I suppose, be loosely described as a "fluid" arrangement and subject to change at any second, with no warning.

MZ has publicly and repeatedly stated his views on privacy.

LOL: prevX even offers their "Safe On Line" tool on their facebook page for free. ( not a bad attempt to reel a few in, not bad tools either )

Simultaneously, afaics, all the vendors post about the dangers of Facebooking.

Do you think they (ANY of the vendors) actually see the irony: the -loosest- data skimmingest, malware festering page on the web is not flagged/blocked/sanctioned in any way, in fact: actively supported.

Heh: but no worries mate: every one knows there are one step ahead of facebook and their data is safe and they would NEVER click on a link just like that !!

If Goldman's think 1% of FB is worth $500 million there must be some worth while data being ripped out somewhere neh !!
How much were YOU paid for surrendering your 'life' ??

Just remind me again: what does Facebook actually do ??

(Never mind the fact that Goldman's have structured the buy-in as a special so as to avoid scrutiny of any individual buyers and other er issues: LOL: keeping their buyers PRIVATE. LOOL. )

So..are Security Vendors dancing with the devil ??
Of course: but; can't/mustn't miss that wave...

If They're nice to Facebook: who knows, might even be legally given that nice juicy database to spam um: send educational material too.

Be interesting to see actual data re sales generated from Facebook links for the vendors so far ??

I feel at the least all those vendors MUST offer a "Facebook 101": about how to stop Mark and the Minions scooping their lives.

Afaics: no vendor has any information posted on their facebook page about the dangers present
...they just put that elsewhere.


Regards.

 

S'pose there's some irony there.
Facebook. Yeahh. The movie was cool, very cool, but yeah. People are strange (The Doors, 1967).
"Facebook itself imho is the most successful keylogger to date". "Mark and the Minions". Good stuff.

 

good thing i use cracked software...
just kidding...i only use free ones with no registration required.

 

I can't relate to this. I must not have the gene that causes one to be attracted to such things as myspace and facebook. Maybe I was dropped when I was born, as I have a strong disliking for such things.

Maybe if I was a multi-million dollar corporation I would get onboard though... or maybe if I could tweet or something. Oh well, I guess I will tweak instead

Sul.

 

Heh,

Got another wry smile out of this ( thx to MrPC )
http://blog.trendmicro.com/2010s-most-dangerous-list/

I am so on the cutting edge
But: there we go: http://www.facebook.com/Trendmicro?_fb_noscript=1
As pointed out: have to follow the masses.

I know: counter arguments available: just an interesting confluence to me.
Regards.

 

The Trend Blog really says "could be"?
Alright..

 

My 9 month old Grand daughter won a "Messiest Face" competition on Facebook.

 

I just registered my 'Name' when they made that big change from a # log in to a personal name login.

Now, that I have locked down my 'privacy' settings, I never login into the site.

 

Good post...

Anyway, when it comes to Facebook, I'm on the neutral side, after looking at both sides of the coin.

The way I see it is if one labels Facebook as the "devil", what would the person label the internet as?

Facebook is 1st and foremost a social networking platform, regardless of all the hype and issues that surrounds it. I wouldn't dispute the fact that it's a money-making machine and is a lucrative business for it's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. I also wouldn't argue against the fact that it does have privacy and malware issues.

However, the point to take note here is it is a part of the trade-off you make whenever you sign up for almost anything online. Facebook isn't the only 'devil' here, we've got other names to list. However, like many other things in life - it doesn't mean you are left with no choices at all. If you don't like it, you can always do something about it. Voice it out, inform the rest, set your settings as you want it to be, etc etc. Heck, you can even choose not to sign up for it.

Coming back to topic, I can understand the irony of security vendors having pages on FB but it's a necessary evil so to say these days. Look at it this way: those who are in the industry are after all normal human beings too - and it's least surprising for them to "go with the flow". The front-line benefits may possibly outweigh or 'clouds' the negatives in the short-run period. Doesn't sound like a good moral act to you? Why should it? It's a security industry where money is one of the priorities - if there's an existing platform that allows good advertising for the company, why shouldn't the company make use of it?

Some here may misunderstand and take me as siding or being pro-Facebook. Well, all I can say is nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, I don't even have an official account for myself. The only reasons I'm posting it this way is that personally I find that there's sometimes too much of a one-sided view among those against FB. The tone on posts/blogs may sometimes lead more to FUD more so than spreading awareness. The initial intent itself is good but the delivery of the message can be sickening and causing paranoia.

If anyone disagree with me, no worries - it's a free world. Just forget what I've said if it displeases you. But pause and look: the fact that we're mentioning the word "Facebook" here has already done the 'damage' (if you're the anti-FB side) by giving them free publicity (even if it's a 'bad' one). Shouldn't we count that itself as a form of irony?

 

I can live without social networking too ... about the closest I get is in Yahoo Groups, and each of my groups is essentially a peer-support group for a medical problem.

In my case (and this is quoting someone from way back when, maybe someone else can remind me who), my mom used to rock me a lot when I was little -- and she used big rocks.

 

Security products and so so truthful marketing have always been a reality. If it take Facebook to make that clear more power to Facebook. Have you looked at email marketing from mentioned Trend company btw? How much worse can it get? They fit right in

Those who get in trouble via Facebook would get in trouble anyway. Not all reported incidents fall back on Facebook itself. Not unless you expect them to babysit their users, Google does not. It just accumulates tossers and their clicks.