Rechercher
Contactez-nous Suivez-nous sur Twitter En francais English Language
 

Freely subscribe to our NEWSLETTER

Newsletter FR

Newsletter EN

Vulnérabilités

Unsubscribe

Sophos Threat reports revals signifant increase in social networking security threats

January 2011 by Sophos

Sophos has published its Security Threat Report 2011, analysing cybercrime during the last year and looking at IT security trends to watch in 2011. A highlight of the report is the findings of Sophos’s latest ‘Social Security’ survey*, which polls computer users on their experiences of social networking security threats.

The survey charts user experience of social networking, particularly in the workplace.

By mid-2010, Facebook recorded half a billion active users, making it not only the largest social networking site, but also one of the most popular destinations on the web. Unsurprisingly, this massive and committed user base is heavily targeted by scammers and cybercriminals, with the number and diversity of attacks growing steadily throughout 2010 – malware, phishing and spam on social networks have all continued to rise in the past year, with the survey finding that:

* 40% of social networking users quizzed have been sent malware such as worms via social networking sites, a 90% increase since the summer of 2009

* Two thirds (67%) say they have been spammed via social networking sites, more than double the proportion less than two years ago

* 43% have been on the receiving end of phishing attacks, more than double the figure since 2009

“Rogue applications, clickjacking, survey scams – all unheard of just a couple of years ago, are now popping up on a daily basis on social networks such as Facebook,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “Why aren’t Faceboook and other social networks doing more to prevent spam and scams in the first place? People need to be very careful they don’t end up being conned for their personal details, or get tricked into clicking on links that could earn money for cybercriminals or infect innocent computers.”

Although results vary across the individual networks of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn, the latest poll suggests that half of those surveyed have been given unrestricted access to social networks at work. Paradoxically, 59% believe employee behaviour on social networking sites could endanger corporate network security, and 57% worry that colleagues are sharing too much information on social networks.

"Total bans on users accessing social networking sites are becoming rarer, as more firms recognise the value such sites can bring in raising brand awareness and delivering social media marketing campaigns," explained Cluley. "If your business isn’t on Facebook, but your competitors are, you are going to be at a disadvantage. But you have to be aware of the risks and secure your users while they’re online."

Although 82% of the survey’s respondents felt that Facebook posed the biggest risk to security, Sophos has labelled an attack on the Twitter micro-blogging network as the biggest single social networking security incident of 2010.

The infamous ‘onMouseOver’ Twitter worm hit the Twitter site in September 2010, and spread like wildfire. The cross-site-scripting (XSS) attack demonstrated how quickly a vulnerability on a social network can affect a huge number of users. High-profile victims included ex-Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown, Lord Alan Sugar, and even Robert Gibbs, the press secretary to US President Barack Obama.


See previous articles

    

See next articles


Your podcast Here

New, you can have your Podcast here. Contact us for more information ask:
Marc Brami
Phone: +33 1 40 92 05 55
Mail: ipsimp@free.fr

All new podcasts