The popularity of social networks is motivating cyber criminals to target Web sites such as Facebook to steal personal identities and distribute malware-infected links.
This is according to Stephan van der Merwe, Kaspersky Lab's head of operations for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kaspersky Lab, in partnership with ITWeb, is running a social networking threats survey to investigate the degree of personal information that is being shared among people via social networks.
Van der Merwe explains people tend to click on links blindly: “Take Facebook for example; if you receive a link on your wall from a friend; generally it is considered trustworthy. Once the link is clicked, the Web site installs a [browser] plug-in that spreads malicious malware.”
He points out that these types of attacks usually originate from rogue Web sites used to collect identities.
“This is an easy way for attackers to exploit a user's profile, because the user accepts links from friends they think they know,” he warns.
Van der Merwe says there's been an increase in mobile attacks over the past few years, as more people access Web resources and social networks via their mobile phones.
Mobile threats are not as prolific as PC threats; however, he says this is likely to change as mobile device adoption increases.
Van der Merwe urges users to run up-to-date anti-malware products on all of their devices - from mobile phones to PCs. He adds that users should scan their PCs regularly and make sure their security software is current.
“Don't allow applications to use your data or your contacts. Use common sense; if a link seems suspicious, it probably is,” he adds.
People completing the 2011 Social Networking Threat Survey have a chance to win a Samsung Blu-Ray home theatre system. The results of the survey, together with the prize winner, will be published on ITWeb.
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