Reality Check

Yep, I got hacked. On Facebook.

I woke up at 7am on Friday morning to about 10 pop-ups on my computer screen from Sametime (IBM's internal messaging service) and YIM - telling me the same thing: my Facebook had been hacked (Rob Wunderlich even had a blog posting up about this one before I got out of bed - gotta love the blogosphere!).

Evidently, someone had hacked, or, "phished" (as the facebook team calls it) my password from some sort of link that I clicked on off of Facebook. They then accessed all my contacts with last names beginning with A, B, and C, and spammed the following note and link to my friends' walls:

I feel awful about it - but it was just spam, and luckily it looks like it's not one of those things that forwards on if you click it. And the spam message? Brilliant. I mean, if I was going to message my friends, I definitely would start out with "YO." And then include words like "wanna." These guys know me all too well... (note sarcasm)

That said, it was an awful experience trying to figure out how to get all of this sorted out. I emailed the facebook team several times, and spent the better part of an hour trying to track down a customer service number (there isn't one, FYI). You would think that a company that collects that much data on their users would consider having a customer service number. Nope. And the email response time? NINE HOURS. I don't know, maybe that's how they cut costs. Interesting given their executive indulgences.

Here are a few easy tips on how NOT to get hacked on FB, and, if you do, what steps to take:

- Avoid clicking on any links/URLs within Facebook that don't start with www.facebook.com. These are not authorized by the FB team.

- If you do get hacked, immediately sign out of FB. Then email [email protected]. Someone will get back to you (give them at least 9 hours :) )

- I would recommend *not* immediately changing your PW or trying to contact your friends to let them know (by Facebook, that is). This could lead to additional spam, etc - since you don't know the extent of the damage done, best not to accelerate anything that might already be doing damage. Also, the FB team will automatically reset your PW for you when you contact them, once they know everything is okay with your account.

- Update your PROFILE message by your cell phone to let folks know not to click on the link you may have sent them. Also email which ones you can via something different than FB.

- If you get a random posting on your wall from someone you know - and it doesn't sound like something they would be say - don't click on it. It's probably spam.

Links for Today: Anant and Tim on the Network Effect (or, Pushing Software v. Accumulating Data), Info 2.0 Demo, and How I Roll...

Links for Today:

• Anant, Tim, and the Network Effect: As many of you (I'm sure) saw, Tim O'Reilly had a pretty strong statement about MSFT Popfly and the network effect of data in this weekend's NYTimes. He commented that, "“Popfly shows me that Microsoft still thinks this is all about software, rather than about accumulating data via network effects, which to me is the core of Web 2.0. They are using Popfly to push Silverlight, rather than really trying to get into the mashup game.” Anant blogged about this yesterday, debating that not all network data will make it to the "great cloud of the internet," so therefore software vendors like IBM and MSFT have to build software that supports the network effect of this data within an enterprise as well. Pretty interesting entry. I think it's a great point, which I will talk about a bit later on. I can tell you that quite a few of our customers are requiring this to be within their enterprise, and that is exactly where the challenge sits. Thoughts? I think we all know where Google sits on this one :)...

• Info 2.0 Demo: We did a test-run today of our Webcast tomorrow on Info 2.0, and figured out that one of our demos wouldn't run on the software that the webcast team uses... so I figured I'd post it here. Check it out. And be sure to view our webcast tomorrow!     Download DEMO_info20.exe

• This is how I roll: I was putting the finishing touches on a few presentation decks tonight, and figured I'd give you guys a snapshot of "how I roll" when I'm out of the office and doing work (wait, that doesn't sound right...). Or, how cats seem to know just the right place to sit to prevent you from doing anything useful.                                       

Upcoming Events (and Shenanigans) You Really Don't Want to Miss

I haven't blogged in awhile... I know, I know - it's been super busy at work, yada yada, I won't (actually, can't) go into details quite yet, but it's all awesome stuff around Info 2.0, and I'll be keeping you posted.

We've got a full calendar of upcoming events and webcasts, so I decided to post some of these here for those of you interested in learning more about Info 2.0.

• Info 2.0 Deep Dive Webcast: This Wednesday, February 13th, Sriram Padmanabhan (our uber-Distinguished Engineer who heads up all development for Info 2.0) and I will be presenting an overview of Info 2.0 as well as giving several demos on different ways a few of our early customers are using it to benefit their business. As an FYI, it will be pretty demo-heavy.

• SDWest Conference: In early March, we'll have a ped demoing Info 2.0 at SDWest. Chris Gruber, our Product Manager for Info 2.0 will be showcasing some scenarios and giving demos, so be sure to stop by and check it out.

• AjaxWorld East: In March, I'll be descending upon NYC and hitting up AjaxWorld to talk more about Info 2.0 and the mashup ecosystem around Web 2.0 and Ajax. We've got quite a few sessions around these topics, so if you're in the area or plan on flying in, it'll be a great show. Plus Mr. Boloker will be there...That may be where the "shenanigans" kick in :)

• Enterprise 2.0 Conference: Susan Scrupski, one of my favorite female bloggers, asked me to be on a Web 2.0 panel at this show a couple weeks ago - it will be moderated by Sandy Kemsley (another one of my favs) and include myself, someone from Serena Software, and a couple others. The coolest part about this panel? It's all women. I think it just may be the best panel at the show :)

We're still working out plans for Web 2.0 Expo SF and a few other shows, so I'll be posting more as plans get finalized.

As you can see, I've been just a _little_ busy. :) Off to finish my webcast slides... /LC