The success of social networks such as MySpace and Facebook has created a fertile ground for predators, scammers and identity thieves, warns an Australian information security expert.
CQR Consulting Information Security Consultant Jody Melbourne said the “explosive viral growth” of social networking and media sites had attracted the interest of many business-minded people.
“These new, unregulated platforms are attracting interest from people ranging from entrepreneurs to unscrupulous scammers, spammers and snake-oil salesmen,” he said. “As with any medium of electronic communication or data-sharing, these social networks are being regularly poked and prodded by hackers and identity thieves.”
Social networking sites allow people to build a personal profile, chat and send messages and share photos and videos with friends. Facebook and Myspace are the two largest, general purpose social networking sites while Bebo and Orkut were popular amongst teens and young adults around the world. LinkedIn is currently the most popular social site for business networking and recruitment.
Melbourne said the social features being added to major services like Google and Microsoft Live would soon bring social networking capabilities to millions of new users.
“The problem is this rapid, widespread adoption of social networking sites has a number of dangers.” Threats include predators seeking young people, identity thieves who can harvest personal information from sites to use for criminal gain, scammers and hackers stealing identities by using a virus or malicious link to “hijack” computers; inveigle passwords; trick users into providing credit card or bank account details; or use photos or personal information to impersonate users on the web.
Melbourne said people often failed to consider that many employers researched potential applicants online. “Job seekers are being turned down for employment because of inappropriate or incriminating information and pictures on their social network profiles,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment