23 Feb 2010

Social networks 'attractive to criminals'

Companies have been urged to ensure their employees are aware of the growing dangers of social networking.

Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, said many people are falling prey to cybercriminals via social networking sites as they are not taking simple safety precautions.

For example, people should not give out personal information over the internet, especially on sites where their profile can be accessed by a wide range of other users.

He commented: "Social networks are based on trust - you believe that you know the person you're interacting with and so, if somebody within your circle of trust admits someone who shouldn't be there, that whole circle is broken for everyone."

Elsewhere, research from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) showed that 73 per cent of adults have received a scam email in the past year.

As a result, the OFT has highlighted how scammers are targeting unsuspecting people using increasingly sophisticated and manipulative tactics to launch its 2010 Scams Awareness Month.