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| Facebook founder's fan page 'hacking' prompts mystery | Facebook founder's fan page 'hacking' prompts mystery |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Mystery surrounds the apparent hacking of a Facebook page used by fans of the site's founder Mark Zuckerberg. | Mystery surrounds the apparent hacking of a Facebook page used by fans of the site's founder Mark Zuckerberg. |
| Overnight, a cryptic message was posted to the page in the name of the 26-year old billionaire founder calling for the site to become a "social business" with investment from its users. | Overnight, a cryptic message was posted to the page in the name of the 26-year old billionaire founder calling for the site to become a "social business" with investment from its users. |
| The message has led to suggestions that the the site was hacked or Mr Zuckerberg's account was compromised. | The message has led to suggestions that the the site was hacked or Mr Zuckerberg's account was compromised. |
| Facebook has so far declined to comment on the incident. | Facebook has so far declined to comment on the incident. |
| Take down | Take down |
| The message, left in the name of Mr Zuckerberg, read: "Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? | The message, left in the name of Mr Zuckerberg, read: "Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? |
| "Why not transform Facebook into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?" | "Why not transform Facebook into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?" |
| Muhammad Yunus is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder of the Grameen Bank, which offers small loans to people who have no collateral to get started in business. | Muhammad Yunus is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder of the Grameen Bank, which offers small loans to people who have no collateral to get started in business. |
| The message also linked to a Wikipedia article about social business and asked readers: "what do you think?" | The message also linked to a Wikipedia article about social business and asked readers: "what do you think?" |
| In addition, it linked to the Hacker Cup, an annual programming event organised by Facebook. | In addition, it linked to the Hacker Cup, an annual programming event organised by Facebook. |
| The post attracted nearly 2,000 comments before it was taken down, but not before technology blog TechCrunch spotted it. | The post attracted nearly 2,000 comments before it was taken down, but not before technology blog TechCrunch spotted it. |
| The page, which has nearly three million fans, has also been moved to a new address, according to researcher Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos. | The page, which has nearly three million fans, has also been moved to a new address, according to researcher Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos. |
| He said that because the site was a public fan page, which are used to promote everything from businesses and products to bands and public figures, it was likely run by Facebook staff. | He said that because the site was a public fan page, which are used to promote everything from businesses and products to bands and public figures, it was likely run by Facebook staff. |
| "It's quite possible that other people than Zuckerberg had access," he said. | "It's quite possible that other people than Zuckerberg had access," he said. |
| "It could have been one of those that got hacked," he said. | "It could have been one of those that got hacked," he said. |
| The hacker may have got access to the account, he said, via a poorly chosen password or spyware installed on an employee's computer that stole the password. | The hacker may have got access to the account, he said, via a poorly chosen password or spyware installed on an employee's computer that stole the password. |
| Walk away | Walk away |
| He said the password could also have been stolen when an employee was accessing the unsecured version of the site over an unencrypted wi-fi network. | He said the password could also have been stolen when an employee was accessing the unsecured version of the site over an unencrypted wi-fi network. |
| Last year, a tool called Firesheep was released that that made it easy for anyone sharing an unsecure connection to grab login information for many unsecure sites, including Facebook. | |
| "I can easily imagine that something like that could have happened," said Mr Cluley. | |
| Facebook has just released new tools aimed at shoring up user's accounts against tools like FireSheep, by allowing people to always connect via a secure connection. | |
| However, Mr Cluley admitted that the site may not have been hacked at all and the post may have been made by a disgruntled employee. | |
| "The other possibility is that [Mr Zuckerberg] strode away from his desk for a while and someone grabbed it and typed the message in. | "The other possibility is that [Mr Zuckerberg] strode away from his desk for a while and someone grabbed it and typed the message in. |
| "Although you wouldn't think that would do much for their job prospects". | "Although you wouldn't think that would do much for their job prospects". |
| The incident comes days after the account of French president Nicolas Sarkozy was also hacked to suggest that he was resigning. | The incident comes days after the account of French president Nicolas Sarkozy was also hacked to suggest that he was resigning. |
| "As a general rule this can happen to anyone," said Mr Cluley. | "As a general rule this can happen to anyone," said Mr Cluley. |
| "Just because a person is famous or well known doesn't mean that everything that is posted from their account is legitimate." | "Just because a person is famous or well known doesn't mean that everything that is posted from their account is legitimate." |
| Mr Zuckerberg's private account appears not to have been affected. | Mr Zuckerberg's private account appears not to have been affected. |