Cybercriminals Focus on Social Networks, Sophos Says

February 2nd, 2010

Facebook and Twitter users are under attack by cybercriminals — and the incidents are rising, Sophos says in its its 2010 Security Threat Report released Monday. In the past 12 months, Sophos says, cybercriminals have focused more attacks on social-network users. Spam and malware are leading the charge.

Fifty-seven percent of users surveyed reported getting spammed via social-networking sites — an increase of 70.6 percent from 2008. And 36 percent say they have been sent malware via social-networking sites, a 69.8 percent increase.

“Computer users are spending more time on social networks, sharing sensitive and valuable personal information, and hackers have sniffed out where the money is to be made,” said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant for Sophos. “The dramatic rise in attacks in the last year tells us that social networks and their millions of users have to do more to protect themselves from organized cybercrime or risk falling prey to identity-theft schemes, scams and malware attacks.”

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