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Codebreaker

Facebook does something about safety and security, experts yawn

John Moe Apr 20, 2011

Facebook rolled out some new features designed to improve security and address the ongoing issue of cyberbullying. Some of this stuff we talked about last month when it was announced in conjunction with a White House summit about bullying. There’s a beefed up Safety Center with more resources for kids who are being harassed. There are also new reporting tools to blow the whistle on bullies and alert other members of Facebook communities or groups. Facebook added a feature where if you’re using the more secure https system and then go to use a non-https application, it defaults you back to https when you’re done.

But the security firm Sophos, which recently wrote an open letter to Facebook about ongoing privacy and security issues, is not satisfied.

“Facebook has got a longer road ahead of it if it’s really serious about protecting its users,” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said in a statement. “HTTPS is still not on by default, and isn’t present at all for users who visit the mobile version of Facebook’s website. Users continue to contact us in their droves concerned about rogue applications, survey scams and Facebook’s attitude that privacy isn’t something that users should be entitled to by default.”

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