The emergence of new social media sites, like Chime.in and Heello, as well as added features to existing sites, are triggering new online scams and threats.
This is according to PC Tools, which warns that consumers must be attentive while joining, logging in, or engaging on social networks. The company cautions that e-mail notifications and invites to join new networks may present an opportunity for cyber criminals. At the same time, the company says 'bots' will become more sophisticated and take on humanlike personalities.
PC Tools says cyber criminals may use e-mail notifications to send malicious links to social media users. The company adds that these links may take users to phishing sites, allowing cyber criminals to access their personal details.
“Cyber criminals are taking advantage of the buzz surrounding these new social networks and features by tricking unsuspecting users to divulge personal information or download malware,” explains Richard Clooke, worldwide reviews programme and public relations manager, EMEA, at PC Tools.
PC Tools also warns that bots will become more advanced in the next few months, “effectively creating human-looking profiles and personalities”. The company explains that cyber criminals use bots as a cheap and efficient way to spread malware, spyware and scams through social media sites.
Targeted attacks
data that can be used for targeted attacks on businesses. Emm says the data found on social media sites can be used by cyber criminals to profile individuals and organisations.
He explains that cyber criminals trawl these sites to gather information they can use to develop a unique attack against a chosen corporate target. “For example,” he says, “a casual remark made by an employee on Twitter, let's say about a corporate application they use, may help a would-be attacker identify the application they need to focus on when looking for a vulnerability to use as a way into the company.”
Explaining the exploitation of social media by cyber criminals, Emm likens cyber criminals to pickpockets: “They 'work' the crowds. And today, the online 'crowds' are to be found in social networks,” Emm concludes.
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