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OpenSocial Invites Hackers

Social networks are trying to out-friendly each other in the eyes of developers. Facebook, MySpace and now Google have all pushed the "open" development card, but Google has taken the idea to the extreme with OpenSocial, an alliance that offers a universal development platform to programmers, so they create software that runs on multiple social networks. MySpace and Bebo, the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked social networks are among those that have signed up for the Google initiative.

However, as with any new development, there are security concerns. In the midst of all this "openness," how can the social networks keep hackers from stealing the private data contained in the third party programs? An application developed by a third party could be much easier to infiltrate than a social networking site. At least Facebook's platform is self-contained, enabling it to exercise a good degree of protection over third party programs.

Dan Hubbard, a researcher for the Web security firm Websense says the worst-case scenario is a hacker gaining access to a user's profile and personal data. OpenSocial's greatest asset could also be its greatest weakness: scale-meaning access to many social networks-gives hackers an added incentive because they'd only have to hack one program to gain access to millions of users.

Read the whole story at Forbes.com »

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