Watch Out–That Hottie on Facebook Might Actually be the Taliban in Disguise

Hello, Taliban, turn over Bin Laden..

Obviously, we're just kidding because Bin Laden's already a thousand leagues under the sea. But the movement he once headed, the Taliban, is still very much alive and kicking. They also happen to know how to use the Internet and Facebook, because reports are surfacing that insurgents are apparently creating fake profiles and posing as hot women to try and extract information from lonely and gullible soldiers.

Say what?

If this is true, then this wouldn't be the first time people are using Facebook to spy on others. Soldiers, brave as they are, sometimes forget that social media profiles are more public and open than they think. Even if they did pay attention to their privacy settings, their networks might even be infiltrated by these fakes.

Social media profiles usually contain a wealth of information. Status updates, geotagging features, photos, and even mere comments might clue in the bad guys who are out to gather intel.

Most did not recognize that people using fake profiles, perhaps masquerading as school friends, could capture information and movements. Few consider the possibilities of data mining and how patterns of behaviour can be identified over time.

-- Australian Department of Defense report

It's not just Australia's military that's concerned. Even representatives from the US Army expressed concerns about their soldiers using social media networks and apps like Foursquare and Shopkick that could possibly reveal their GPS coordinates.

All I can say is, the Taliban's getting pretty clever. Let's just hope the good guys are always two steps ahead of them.