ISSUE ON CLONING OF ACCOUNT ON FACEBOOK

Based on June rating by eBizMBA ranking, facebook has been rated as the most popular social network site in the world with estimated unique monthly visitor of seven hundred and fifty million (750,000,000). The social network exceed twitter which is the second most popular by five hundred (500,000,000) million visitors. A network with such enormous user tends to face wave of challenges in Nigeria today.

Issue concerning hacking of facebook accounts call for some concern. I begin to wonder if there is an authority on ground, somewhere within the country that can give a vivid explanation on what is really happening as regarding the cloning of individual accounts on facebook. These evil geniuses whoever they are no doubt smart at what they do. It has been about three months now since I first learnt of this scam on facebook. Let me quickly share my first experience. I sent a friend request to Bishop Paul Adefarasin. He confirmed the friend request after some time and few minutes after the confirmation message, I received a message from the supposed Bishop requesting financial donation to help save someone who cannot afford medical expenses. I felt it was not morally sound for someone to request for financial support just few minutes after becoming my friend on facebook. Yet given the status of the Bishop, I feel it couldn’t be a scam. I never had the slightest feeling it was not the true Bishop. Three weeks later, I received a message from someone who claims to know the real Bishop and ask me to disregard any message sent to me because it is a fraud. So, I simply deleted the acclaimed Bishop and never bothered to add the real Bishop because there seems to be no way to spot the difference. I didn’t take it to heart that it is the beginning of chain of rippling events that will keep troubling the settled water of peaceful coexistence of facebook user for much longer time. I have received close to twenty new friend requests from my existing friends and still counting. Each time, I try to confirm the authenticity of such message and my facebook friends tell me they have not sent another friend request.

There are so many other facebook users who have proofs that their account have been hacked and clowned. The big questions are: Is this due to activities of hackers? How come so many accounts have been compromised within the past three months? What has facebook to say about the unholy acts going on within the past three months? Are there security lapses on the part of facebook social network that has allowed hackers the access to users account? Is this a trend peculiar to Nigeria facebook users? These and many other critical questions beg for urgent answers.

Leaving these questions to be answered by the appropriate authorities, let us look at how account can possibly be hacked. Few ways which users account can be compromised include: giving up vital information of facebook account carelessly; sharing e-mail address and password on networks that cannot be trusted; not logging out your account at the café perhaps due to shortage of ticket time; giving your facebook account details to friends that cannot be trusted only to mention a few. It implies that one run greater risk of having his account cloned if one is guilty of any of the aforementioned causes. However, stating exclusively that these are the explanations to why accounts are clowned will assume to pre-empting facts that can be given by the social media management team.

Globalization through internet activities calls for precautionary measures both on the part of internet service provider and users. This becomes necessary since there is good level of interaction between all of the internet based networks. A good number of internet users have there different accounts on various networks connected to each other. It implies that once one is compromised; there are great chances that others have been compromised since they are all connected. For instance, where e-mail, twitter, facebook, linkedin,  pinterest and foursquare are all connected and one is hacked, it would definitely be easier to hack into the rest since they are all connected.

With ongoing implementation of cashless policies around the world, people then run great risk of loosing their money if there e-mail for instance is compromised. It is known that vital informations are sent to customers via e-mails, so the customer might loose his or her money when a third party laid hands on such information.

All of the insecurity of accounts on facebook calls for attention by concern authorities and individuals. One only hopes that the appropriate authorities come up with a structure that will end the ugly trend that mask the face of facebook in the past few months. In the mean time there is the need for social network users to guide their account information jealously.        

      

ON BUS BAN IN ABUJA

It has been over three weeks now since the FCT administration under the leadership of Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed (FCT minister) place ban on private commercial buses operating within the Central Business Districts(CBD) thus restricting their activities to suburbs and outskirt communities like Gwagwalada, Jikoyi area, Dutse to Bwari etc.

Such decision have been influenced by facts accrued from statistics which the FCT administration have been able to take over the months by deploying young graduates who were paid N2500 per day to take and keep record of traffic flow throughout the FCT at various strategic points. These ad hoc staffs must resume at their duty post by 6.00am and close by 7.00pm without being paid transport of any other allowance. Just the allowance: two thousand five hundred naira (N2500) per day. 

It is sure that the decision was based primarily on such facts gathered by underpaid ad hoc staffs that obviously lack satisfaction on the job or perhaps the expertise of carrying out such job effectively. It is crystal clear that inconsistent and incoherent statistical analysis was the basis for the ban. It seems a complete statistical analysis was not made before implementing the ban.  For instance, it is not clear if there any data on human traffic flow within the metropolis exist. I will give you a vivid example why I’m sure such data does not exist. Frequency of El Rufai buses which now replace defunct commercial buses is so unpredictable that in some major areas with high human traffic, it can sometimes take up to four hours before you get another bus after missing one. So the characteristic ninety nine standing like typical ‘Molue’ in Lagos is now observed in Abuja. Few private cars have now converted to commercial cars while transport fare surge depends on the population of commuters. Taxi drop is so expensive and uneconomical especially when you are staying in places far from your work place. So regardless of your status, personality, integrity or self esteem, you must hustle to get whatever transport you are going to take. Peak of such rush is between 7.00am to 8.00am and 4.00pm to 6.00m. Mentioning means of data acquisition is germane to this discussion since it shows how unreliable the gathered information might be.

More disturbing is the increased crime that greeted this gesture from the FCT administration. Today we have increased cases of picking of pocket and taxi robbery. Every time a bus arrives, the rush to get into the bus give room for perpetrators of dastardly act of pocket picking to carry out there nefarious acts. Though, the prevalence is more in certain areas but there is the need to nib this terrible act in the bud by providing enough buses to cater for passengers. Berger area is one of those areas known for such act of pocket picking. So if you are visiting Abuja for the first time anytime soon, watch your pocket closely if you will be passing through Berger. Another common trend is the use of private vehicle to rub passengers their valuables and belongings. Cases of such pilferage of valuables through this means have increased since the ban of buses has been implemented.

The ban of private commercial buses though has its merits and good intentions. What Abuja dwellers experience today to move from place to place within the CBD is not fair.  It is a show of lack of consonance between policy formulation and implementation which has bewitched our governance system as well as her ethics. It is a clarion call to the FCT administration to rise up to the challenge and fox the problem of transportation in the FCT.