Facebook: Hackers’ new playground?
February 9, 2010 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security
As social networking sites have become more popular with users, they’ve also become increasingly useful for cyber-criminals.
In the past year, attacks by hackers through social networking sites have increased by 70% compared to the year before, according to a recent survey by security firm Sophos.
Sophos also identified about 50,000 social-media-centric viruses, twice more than there were a year ago. There have also been increased instances of phishing attacks over Facebook and similar sites.
Most businesses are concerned their companies could be affected — of the 500 IT managers surveyed, 60% were concerned that users’ activity could leave their networks vulnerable to attacks.
Short of completely blocking those sites from office computers, companies can help protect the network by offering users these tips:
- Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know — it could be a cycber-criminal.
- Be careful about clicking links, even if they’re sent from a friend — some viruses have taken over people’s accounts to automatically send malware to everyone on their list of contacts.
- Don’t respond to requests for personal information. Thieves have reportedly been hacking into people’s accounts and messaging their friends to obtain to bank account numbers and the like.
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Tags: Facebook, hackers, social networking
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