From the big bag o’ Google search queries: Is someone trying to hack Facebook?
Possibly. An announcement came out this week that Anonymous and Lulzsec, the groups behind some of the more notorious hacks this year, plan to try to take down Facebook on November 5. There’s some debate whether they can do it, even within the groups, it seems. Some even believe the announcement was a hoax. But these are the same groups that hacked virtually every cell phone at the hacker conventions in Las Vegas last week, so it has to be perceived as a threat.
What should you do?
In short, change your Facebook password to something you’re not using anywhere else, and doesn’t look like anything you’re using anywhere else. “Take down” can mean several things. Maybe they think they can leak usernames and passwords, or maybe they just plan to make the service unavailable for a time.
Nobody knows yet who these people are or what exactly they’re capable of. So anything they threaten to do should be taken at least somewhat seriously. There’s little that we, as end-users, can do about it, but we should practice good security. Which is something we ought to be doing anyway.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.