U.K. Man Arrested on Facebook Hacking Charges

A 26-yr-hoary U.K. man was in remission Thursday on charges that He tried to hack into the Facebook social-networking site.

Details of the so-called law-breaking, which is still low investigation, are sketchy, but Facebook said Friday that no drug user information had been purloined.

Facebook said information technology was impermanent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Jack London's Metropolitan Police Service. "While no user data was [compromised], we have been working with Scotland Yard and the FBI, as we take over some attempt to hack our internal systems extremely earnestly," Facebook spokeswoman Sophy Tobias said in an electronic mail message. "However, we have no further comment as this is an ongoing vicious investigation."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that the 26-year-old Man had been arrested in North Yorkshire Th on "suspicion of computer hacking offenses," and was now released along bond. The spokesman declined to provide further details on the case. The FBI could not be reached for gossip.

Hacking Facebook will get you a thumbs-down from law enforcement.

Information technology's non crystalline what the motive for the round may have been, but Facebook is an attractive target for hackers. Because the site connects hoi polloi World Health Organization know and combine each other, it is often targeted by scammers and hackers looking to trick users into clicking on links surgery instalmen malicious software. The land site also contains a riches of personal selective information that could be used in peculiarly targeted fizgig-phishing attacks. Fishgig-phishing attacks involve specially crafted e-post messages that are written to look care 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 fanny the Gmail incident were nerve-racking to break into the accounts of government officials, contractors and activists.

With more than 500 jillio users, Facebook is the world's largest multiethnic-networking place.

News show of the arrest was first reportable on Twitter by Rob Preece, a newsman with the Yorkshire Post. Preece said he will hold an clause on the arrest in Saturday's paper.

Robert McMillan covers computer security measur and widespread applied science breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Henry M. Robert along Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com