A 26-year-old U.K. man was arrested Thursday on charges that he tried to hack into the Facebook social-networking site.
Facebook said it was working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and London's Metropolitan Police Service. "While no user data was [compromised], we have been working with Scotland Yard and the FBI, as we take any attempt to hack our internal systems extremely seriously,"
The man had been arrested in North Yorkshire Thursday on "suspicion of computer hacking offenses," and was now released on bond.
It's not clear what the motive for the attack may have been, but Facebook is an attractive target for hackers. Because the site connects people who know and trust each other, it is often targeted by scammers and hackers looking to trick users into clicking on links or installing malicious software. The site also contains a wealth of personal information that could be used in specially targeted spear-phishing attacks. Spear-phishing attacks involve specially crafted e-mail messages that are written to look like they come from someone the victim knows.
Google confirmed earlier this week that its Gmail service had been targeted by spear-phishing attacks launched out of China. The hackers behind the Gmail incident were trying to break into the accounts of government officials, contractors and activists.
With more than 500 million users, Facebook is the world's largest social-networking site.
Facebook said it was working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and London's Metropolitan Police Service. "While no user data was [compromised], we have been working with Scotland Yard and the FBI, as we take any attempt to hack our internal systems extremely seriously,"
The man had been arrested in North Yorkshire Thursday on "suspicion of computer hacking offenses," and was now released on bond.
It's not clear what the motive for the attack may have been, but Facebook is an attractive target for hackers. Because the site connects people who know and trust each other, it is often targeted by scammers and hackers looking to trick users into clicking on links or installing malicious software. The site also contains a wealth of personal information that could be used in specially targeted spear-phishing attacks. Spear-phishing attacks involve specially crafted e-mail messages that are written to look like they come from someone the victim knows.
Google confirmed earlier this week that its Gmail service had been targeted by spear-phishing attacks launched out of China. The hackers behind the Gmail incident were trying to break into the accounts of government officials, contractors and activists.
With more than 500 million users, Facebook is the world's largest social-networking site.
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