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Canadian ISPs Caught Up In Facebook Lawsuit
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-12-17
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Canadian company SlickCash hammered Facebook's servers for two weeks in June, the social networking site alleged in court documents.
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| Canadian ISPs Caught Up In Facebook Lawsuit |  |
Hackers working on behalf of SlickCash attemtped to gain access to Facebook user details hit the site with at least 200,000 requests during the two-week period. Facebook characterized this in their filing as "unauthorized attempts to access and harvest proprietary information."
The Toronto Star said Facebook amended its filing after forcing two Internet service providers, Rogers Communications and Look Communications, to hand over subscriber information.
Both ISPs rejected requests for voluntary compliance, leading to Facebook lawyers seeking court orders. Apparently the attackers switched IP addresses after Facebook blocked the initial one from reaching its servers.
Facebook has become the repository for personal information for millions of people. It holds obvious appeal for criminals bent on identity theft. Why SlickCash would go after Facebook is anyone's guess.
The attack illustrates why putting too many person details online in a social networking environment may not be a great idea. Facebook at least appears to have better security than that of CardSystem Solutions or TJX Companies, two businesses that experienced massive breaches leading to millions of exposures of personal details.
But no security system is perfect, which means people need to be the first line of defense against potential theft. Keeping home addresses, phone numbers, and definitely Social Security numbers offline should be the minimum of what people protect.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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