Socialbots used by researchers to 'steal' Facebook data

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique capable of stealing personal information from Facebook, according to BBC News.

Using 'socialbots', computer programs that mimic real Facebook profiles, the researchers were able to harvest vast quantities of personal data.

Socialbots are increasingly being used by internet criminals and are being offered for sale on the internet for as little as $29.
Facebook said that the research was overstated and unethical.

A socialbot is a social networking adaptation of the wide-scale botnets used by criminals to send out spam.

In a traditional botnet, a network of computers are infected by a virus to allow a hi-tech criminal to use them remotely. Often botnet controllers steal data from victims' PCs or use the machines to send out spam or carry out other attacks.

What makes a socialbot different is that it is able to pass itself off as a real Facebook user.

The software takes over control of a social networking profile and from there performs basic activities such as posting messages and sending requests.

The four researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, created 102 socialbots for use in their experiment and one 'botmaster' - software that sent commands to the other bots.

The researchers employed their socialbots over a period of eight weeks. In total the bots attempted to make friends with 8,570 Facebook users. 3,055 accepted the friendships.

The researchers found that the more friendships people had on Facebook, the more likely they were to accept the 'fake' friend.

To prevent triggering Facebook's fraud detection software, the fake accounts only sent 25 requests per day.