Earlier this week, many Facebook users were exposed to hardcore pornography, photoshopped images of celebrities (like Justin Bieber) performing sexual acts, extreme violence and at least one image of an abused dog in their news feed as part of a coordinated spam attack on the site.
At the center of the attack is a new technique called clickjacking, when fake links pose as regular Facebook posts, often coming from the people we normally trust in our Facebook network to post trustworthy links. When these links are clicked, however, a JavaScript command is executed, which spreads the link even farther, and which placed graphic images into newsfeeds of many users. The images continued to spread for as long as 48 hours on the site.
Facebook has said that no data or account information was compromised during the attack, and they have built a mechanism to shut down the pages that are sharing the links. Facebook relies heavily on users to report and flag suspicious links, and content (like hardcore pornography) that breaches their user-agreement policy.
I talked with several teens today that said that they or someone they knew had seen the images in their newsfeed. Parents should be aware that their children may have been exposed to this harmful content through this attack, so take the time to check in with your kids this week and ask them whether they saw any of these images in their newsfeed. If they did encounter this harmful content, ask them what they saw and take the opportunity to reinforce healthy sexual values and to let them know that they can always come to you if they ever encounter anything scary, graphic or upsetting online. This story highlights just how easy it is for kids to be exposed to harmful content online, even on sites that attempt to be porn-free (see also when porn spammed Sesame Street’s YouTube site).
Teenagers and children using the site also tend to spread and share more information than the average adult, and they often use less caution in the links they click on. Remind your kids that they should never copy and paste an unknown code into their browser bar, to use up-to-date browsers and utilize the “Report” links if they come across graphic, violent or suspicious content through the social networking site. Spam like this often preys on an individual’s curiosity (with link titles such as “Why are you in this video?!?!”), so talk to your kids about coming to you before clicking on any unknown link.
Also help them to understand that when they click on links and posts, they risk exposure to malware, which can often gain access to their personal information and passwords and perform other dangerous and destructive tasks on their computers. Use up-to-date security software to help protect your family’s computer, and check out our social networking information for more to protect your kids on sites like Facebook.