A report conducted by an internet security and software company, Sophos, suggests that cyber crime via social networks is on the rise.
Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular social networks being targeted by online scammers as the cyber criminals view these users as a “soft touch” in terms of members’ security practices. Sophos also suggested that online criminals target social networks as their security walls are not as sophisticated as the security measures in place to prevent malware getting through on email accounts.
The scammers work by infiltrating a social network member’s account, and sending out a spam message via that account. Because the message is supposedly sent via a friend, the recipient is more likely to open the message without realising the potential threat.
While the study found that a high number of social network members are now very conscious of the threat posed by these cyber criminals, there are still a large number of naive users who are oblivious to the dangers.
The security report found that over the course of the last year, two thirds of Facebook and Twitter members have been spammed, which represents a 90% increase since the summer of 2009.
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