Congratulations, because reading week is over. We are technically half way through the semester and students are busy writing papers or getting ready for midterms. Good news is that summer break is just around the corner.

So far 2010 is turning out to be a great year for Canada. At this year’s Winter Olympics, Canadian athletes took home a record breaking 14 gold medals with one of the most monumental being over the United States in men’s hockey. If you went on Spring Garden, you were likely to be smothered by celebrating hockey enthusiasts. All over Canada people expressed their enjoyment showing their support in a number of different ways, chewing gum, purchasing clothes or even lighters.

One of the biggest avenues of expression however was through Facebook with millions of people editing/updating their ‘statuses’. This then brings me to the topic at hand, the security of Facebook.

This new decade ushers in new technology and with this new tech, comes a new way of social networking. Facebook has changed the world as we know it. The site has recently just turned six years old and not only is the site massively popular but it's become a global address book, photo album and bathroom wall all rolled into one. But is Facebook really as safe as everyone seems to think?

It has grown to an amazing presence with people logging on every day. Facebook actually has over 350 million active users and a reported 700,000 new people joining the social networking website every day. A recent study has shown that at least 46% of Facebook users accept friend requests from complete strangers.

However, the security of Facebook will be scrutinized again. Earlier this month an eighteen year-old boy by the name of Anthony Stancl was tried for posing as a female on the Facebook site to entice young men into sending him naked pictures of themselves. His lude behavior did not stop there as he blackmailed victims into performing sexual acts or else risk being exposed. This recent series of events has forced Sophos to examine and offer advice for online safety. Sophos is a leading developer and vendor of security software and hardware in Canada.

The senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, said about the incident, "There's no doubt that there are plenty of "female" profiles online that are in reality men (and probably vice versa) - using photographs that they have stolen or downloaded off the internet.

"Even if you recognize the name and picture of someone you know on Facebook, you can't necessarily be certain that it is the person you think it is.

"Young people need to learn how to use the internet sensibly and be made aware of the risks that are present when they login. The alternative is that we are bringing up a generation of youngsters who are not just comfortable using the internet, they're too comfortable."

The young man, Anthony Stancl is a former New Berlin Eisenhower High School student in Wisconsin and is being tried for flirting with under aged male classmates and convincing them to send him nude photographs.

He has 12 felony charges against him with numerous counts of child enticement, second-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, possession of child pornography and, for good measure, making a bomb threat. (Talk about insult to injury.)

It appears Stancl created up to three different fake female profiles with the intent to entice his fellow students. Anthony was able to convince 31 of his classmates to send him naked photos, resulting in him using the pictures as a leverage to make the victims do his bidding. If Stancl is found guilty, he could be spending the rest of his life in prison.

It all started in November when Stancl emailed bomb threats to his high school. It was while investigators where looking into the threats that they uncovered an elaborate plot to blackmail his fellow students. After confiscating his computer, investigators found an estimated 600 images of child pornography and another 300 photos along with movie clips of fellow male students.

Ironically, the same week this all unfolded Facebook had realized a statement to TechRadar in reference to sexual offenders, saying: "We are glad to be able to report that we have not yet had to handle a case of a registered sex offender meeting a minor through Facebook. We are working hard to make sure it never happens."

But the reality is that no matter how hard these social networks try, they’ll never have the technology or the manpower to stop every threat on the internet. For this reason they need to stop pretending that they’re safe. Facebook’s goal is to connect as many people as possible, and the sad truth is that many people are very naive when it comes to online safety.

So how can we as students prevent ourselves from Stancl or similar predators on social networks? Beware of the internet and its trappings. Cyber safety experts say that the slightest amount of basic information students provide on social networking sites can attract the attention of sexual predators.

Facebook warns users never to post any personally identifiable information and says it's determined to provide a safe place for young people.

“They would be presenting themselves as potential prey for people who don't have good intentions at heart.”

Police and school officials nationwide urge students to remember that when they post their private thoughts online, strangers are definitely watching. After all, with over 350 million users, it’s inevitable that some bad things are going to happen (as they have before). But taken together, it’s clear that Facebook isn’t quite the safe haven we might perceive.