New security routines should help
Facebook announced in a blog post that there are around 600.000 unauthorized user logins every day. In order to help users whose accounts have been hacked, new methods of identity verification are to be used in the future. "The number of accounts cracked is not exceptional in relation to the number of users. The accounts are quite easy to crack, as the log-in management is becoming more and more networked and users are using the same passwords on several pages," says Ikarus-Software- Development manager Jürgen Eckel http://www.ikarus-software.de in conversation with pressetext.
Helping friends
Facebook expressly points out that the 600.000 registered problem cases per day only account for 0,06 percent of the daily registrations. The social network records more than a billion log-ins every day. Unauthorized registrations do not always have to go to the account of criminals. Some users are simply too careless with their user data, which also makes it easy for people close to them to allow themselves a more or less well-intentioned joke. "Awareness of the problem is relatively weak. Most users simply use some kind of password," says Eckel.
If the online identity of a user was compromised, it used to be relatively laborious to regain control of one's own account. Most of the time the procedure was carried out via an e-mail account. However, it is not uncommon for the email account to be cracked at the same time as the Facebook account. In such cases, only the tedious and time-consuming route via hotlines and forms has so far helped. In the future, users should nominate three to five trustworthy friends who, in the event of a problem, will each receive part of a code with which the account concerned can be made accessible again.
Good idea
"Resetting the password via a" trusted network "is not a bad idea. This system also saves Facebook a lot of time and effort," said Eckel. However, this approach does not offer absolute security either. "It is theoretically conceivable that the friends' accounts are also infected, since many attacks occur en masse," explains Eckel. The new system is currently in the test phase. If it works, 600.000 users can look forward to a simpler solution to their online worries every day.
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