Systems and methods for determining whether profiles associated with social-networking websites have been compromised

1. A computer-implemented method for determining whether profiles associated with social-networking websites have been compromised, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

creating a database of validated-content identifiers that identify valid content published on a social-networking profile associated with a social-networking website by:

identifying a plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking profile;

determining that the plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking website originated from at least one authorized client device;

generating, due at least in part to the plurality of requests having originated from the authorized client device, a plurality of validated-content identifiers that uniquely identify the valid content;

storing the plurality of validated-content identifiers in the database of validated-content identifiers;

determining, by monitoring the social-networking profile, that at least one item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile by:

identifying at least one item of content that has been published on the social-networking profile;

determining that a validated-content identifier for the item of content does not exist within the database of validated-content identifiers;

in response to determining that the item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile, performing at least one security action on the social-networking profile by:

identifying a geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content;

identifying geographic origins of all of the valid content published on the social-networking profile;

determining that the illegitimately published item of content's geographic origin is different from the geographic origins of all of the valid content;

instructing a social-networking provider to prevent future attempts to publish items of content on the social-networking profile from the geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of requests from the authorized client device comprises authenticating the authorized client device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of requests from the authorized client device comprises receiving the plurality of requests from at least one agent installed on the authorized client device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of validated-content identifiers comprise hashes of the valid content published on the social-networking profile.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein determining that a validated-content identifier for the item of content does not exist within the database of validated-content identifiers comprises:

generating a hash of the item of content;

comparing the hash of the item of content with the hashes stored in the database;

determining, based on the comparison, that the hash of the item of content does not correspond to any of the hashes stored in the database.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein monitoring the social-networking profile comprises periodically scanning content published on the social-networking profile.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein periodically scanning content published on the social-networking profile comprises scanning content that was published within a predetermined period of time more frequently than other content that was published prior to the predetermined period of time.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein performing the security action on the social-networking profile further comprises:

identifying a malicious reference within the illegitimately published item of content;

notifying a social-networking provider of the malicious reference to enable the social-networking provider to prevent future attempts to illegitimately publish another item of content that comprises the malicious reference.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein performing the security action on the social-networking profile further comprises at least one of:

removing the illegitimately published item of content from the social-networking profile;

resetting login information associated with the social-networking profile;

notifying an owner of the social-networking profile of the illegitimately published item of content.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises at least one of:

the authorized client device;

a validation server.

11. A system for determining whether profiles associated with social-networking websites have been compromised, the system comprising:

a validation module programmed to create a database of validated-content identifiers that identify valid content published on a social-networking profile associated with a social-networking website by:

identifying a plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking profile;

determining that the plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking website originated from at least one authorized client device;

generating, due at least in part to the plurality of requests having originated from the authorized client device, a plurality of validated-content identifiers that uniquely identify the valid content;

storing the plurality of validated-content identifiers in the database of validated-content identifiers;

a monitoring module programmed to determine, by monitoring the social-networking profile, that at least one item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile by:

identifying at least one item of content that has been published on the social-networking profile;

determining that a validated-content identifier for the item of content does not exist within the database of validated-content identifiers;

a security module programmed to perform at least one security action on the social-networking profile in response to the determination that the item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile by:

identifying a geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content;

identifying geographic origins of all of the valid content published on the social-networking profile;

determining that the illegitimately published item of content's geographic origin is different from the geographic origins of all of the valid content;

instructing a social-networking provider to prevent future attempts to publish items of content on the social-networking profile from the geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content;

at least one hardware processor configured to execute the validation module, the monitoring module, and the security module.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the validation module is further programmed to authenticate the authorized client device.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the validation module identifies the plurality of requests from the authorized client device by receiving the plurality of requests from an agent installed on the authorized client device.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the validated-content identifiers comprise hashes of the valid content published on the social-networking profile.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the monitoring module determines that a validated-content identifier for the item of content does not exist within the database of validated-content identifiers by:

generating a hash of the item of content;

comparing the hash of the item of content with the hashes stored in the database;

determining, based on the comparison, that the hash of the item of content does not correspond to any of the hashes stored in the database.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the monitoring module monitors the social-networking profile by periodically scanning content published on the social-networking profile.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the security module performs the security action on the social-networking profile by further:

identifying a malicious reference within the illegitimately published item of content;

notifying a social-networking provider of the malicious reference to enable the social-networking provider to prevent future attempts to illegitimately publish another item of content that comprises the malicious reference.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the security module performs the security action on the social-networking profile by further at least one of:

removing the illegitimately published item of content from the social-networking profile;

resetting login information associated with the social-networking profile;

notifying an owner of the social-networking profile of the illegitimately published item of content.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

create a database of validated-content identifiers that identify valid content published on a social-networking profile associated with a social-networking website by:

identifying a plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking profile;

determining that the plurality of requests to publish the valid content on the social-networking website originated from at least one authorized client device;

generating, due at least in part to the plurality of requests having originated from the authorized client device, a plurality of validated-content identifiers that uniquely identify the valid content;

storing the plurality of validated-content identifiers in the database of validated-content identifiers;

determine, by monitoring the social-networking profile, that at least one item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile by:

identifying at least one item of content that has been published on the social-networking profile;

determining that a validated-content identifier for the item of content does not exist within the database of validated-content identifiers;

perform at least one security action on the social-networking profile in response to the determination that the item of content has been illegitimately published on the social-networking profile by:

identifying a geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content;

identifying geographic origins of all of the valid content published on the social-networking profile;

determining that the illegitimately published item of content's geographic origin is different from the geographic origins of all of the valid content;

instructing a social-networking provider to prevent future attempts to publish items of content on the social-networking profile from the geographic origin of the illegitimately published item of content.