Most people are concerned about the prospect of their social media accounts being hacked, but a new study finds that it’s actually people we know who frequently access our accounts without our permission.
In a survey of 1,308 U.S. adult Facebook users, University of British Columbia researchers found that 24 per cent – or more than one in five – had snooped on the Facebook accounts of their friends, romantic partners or family members, using the victims’ own computers or cellphones.
“It’s clearly a widespread practice. Facebook private messages, pictures or videos are easy targets when the account owner is already logged on and has left their computer or mobile open for viewing,” said Wali Ahmed Usmani, study author and computer science master’s student.
People admitted to spying on their friends, family, and romantic partners out of simple curiosity or fun—for example, setting a victim’s status or profile picture to something humorous. But other motives were darker, such as jealousy or animosity.
“Jealous snoops generally plan their action and focus on personal messages, accessing the account for 15 minutes or longer,” said computer science professor Ivan Beschastnikh, a senior author on the paper.
“And the consequences are significant: in many cases, snooping effectively ended the relationship.”
The findings highlight the ineffectiveness of passwords and device PINs in stopping unauthorized access by insiders, added electrical and computer engineering professor Kosta Beznosov, the paper’s other senior author.
“There’s no single best defense—though a combination of changing passwords regularly, logging out of your account and other security practices can definitely help,” said Beznosov.
“Characterizing social insider attacks on Facebook” was funded by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and prepared in collaboration with researchers at the University of Lisbon. It will be presented in May at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017).
Online Editors
Is Planet X real? Video shows ‘fireball falling from Nibiru as it nears Earth’
Circumcision not associated with penis sensitivity, research finds
Mysterious loud booms heard across the world in 64 locations
Researchers discover 800-year-old ‘alien mobile phone’ in Austria
Alien Signal Detected: Six more deep space radio bursts picked up
Eating Cheese Can Make Your Wine Taste Better, Says New Research
Carbon Released by Warming Soils Could Trigger a Disastrous Feedback Loop (research)
Olivia de Havilland SCOTUS, Supreme Court rejected a petition
Jean-Jacques Savin, Frenchman Aims to Cross the Atlantic in a Giant Barrel
Iceland bridge car crash: Three British tourists including child killed
Elon Musk diver lawsuit: Musk’s lawyers say his ‘pedo guy’ tweets were exaggerated
California girl Arizona fall, according to authorities out of Flagstaff
Indonesia extreme weather warning of further giant destructive waves
Mexico US crash international: experts invited to join the investigation
Asa Hutchinson, 21, a British woman could be jailed in Dubai after witnessing an argument between some of her friends and a drunk Swedish man in a hotel lobby....
Copyright © 2017 The British Journal
0 comments