Can someone hack into Myspace and Facebook and delete your profile?

[Peter]

Effectively, yes. While it’s highly unlikely that her ex has been literally breaking into MySpace’s and Facebook’s servers, it would not be surprising that they were able to get into her account. This can be done in many ways. For instance, she might have logged into her accounts on his computer (or a computer they shared) and chosen to save her password. This is probably the most likely scenario, because he could just go to the site and it would let him log right in.

Another scenario would be if he set up key logging software or another form of spyware on her machine, he could have gotten her password from that. However, that scenario is a little more unlikely.

A third scenario would be that he simply guess her password (or she told it to him at some point). Couples who have been in a relationship can sometimes make educated guesses on their partner’s passwords. For instance, it might be her favorite actor’s name, or her birthday, or her favorite hobby.

He might have also exploited the same “hack” that was used to break into Sarah Palin’s email last year. Many of these sites offer a way to recover your password in case you forget it. Often, they just ask some basic “security” questions (mother’s maiden name, first pet, elementary school, etc). In Gov. Palin’s case, most of the answers to her security questions were a matter of public record. But in this case, they might have just been things he know from having been in a relationship with her.

As I said, it’s highly unlikely he possesses the skills required (or the luck or determination) to literally “hack” into MySpace’s or Facebook’s servers. It’s much more likely he simply used information he already knew in order to access her accounts and delete them.

Word to the wise: Don’t ever choose the option to save your passwords on your computer. And if you ever break up with someone who might vandalize your web presence, you should change your passwords on the sites you care about and make sure the security questions asked are not things your ex would know or could guess easily.

Hope she gets everything worked out!