Facebook Graph Search is an awesome tool for phishing attacks

January 16, 2013

Facebook shook the tech world foundation a bit with the announcement of the Graph Search capability. Users are anxious for a chance to play with the new feature, and attackers are looking forward to this potent new weapon…I mean tool, as well. In a nutshell, Facebook Graph Search is a search engine that allows you to find things based on relationships and context—basically drawing from the limitless pool of Likes, tags, and check-ins posted by a billion Facebook members. Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Graph Search this week at a Facebook media event. From a search perspective, Graph Search seems like a very powerful tool—something that makes search more personally relevant, and a concept that should have Google worried a bit. You can search based on people, places, friends, and interests. For example, you can do a search for “friends who like The Beatles and live in Chicago,” or “Italian restaurants my friends have visited nearby.” However, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword as well. Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle, says, “The new Facebook Graph Search is a phishers’ dream come true. It takes the micro targeting capabilities that have been available to online advertisers for years and puts them into the hands of cyber criminals.” To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025397/facebook-graph-search-is-an-awesome-tool-for-phishing-attacks.html