a user associated with sybils can be made harder to find in any search technique that screens for sybils 215 c sybils are used to create false or misleading relationships among nodes 215 c 1 standard approach sybils create false popularity benefit ad campaign a host network or other entity can change ratings or otherwise unattractive items by creating sybils however this is only effective if the sybils don 39 t look fake to a screening mechanism 215 c 2 smear advertising campaign in some applications an entity may wish to make something look less trustworthy by associating it with fake information 215 c 3 virally attack ads to decrease effectiveness of a campaign it can be discredited by associating it with sybils 215 c 4 contaminate and attack social network provider reduce functionality by creating sybils that are effective in changing and degrading a rival social network 215 d determine and target relatively sparse parts of social network web embodiments of the present invention therefore can be used to protect information better than existing social networks by augmenting and optimizing user graph profiles so that they are less accessible to unauthorized information retrieval entities examples of information that can be protected 1 private or hidden information financial transactions identity protected purchases government job records 2 semi private information purchases on amazon web behavior after log in company internal non shared info 3 public information anything that shows up in websearch facebook linkedin twitter people that mention a person or an entity people mentioned by a person or an entity record of activity any website that shares public information 4 derived information and relationships the structure of the social graph user links to people entities activities based.